Gummi Kingdom
by El-Cid-The-Champion
Summary: A crossover between Kingdom Hearts and Gummi Bears. The first three chapters start in Birth by Sleep's timeline, but the others will take place in KH II with Sora.
1. Terra's Story

**Gummi Kingdom**

_My next kingdom Hearts crossover is with the Disney show that started it all Gummi Bears. Hope you all enjoy it and if you do please check out my other stories and let me know what you think. This time a special treat you get three preview chapters for Birth by Sleep then another story with Sora._

**Terra's Story**

The young master in training was lost in thought as he zoomed through the cosmos after having just left Radiant Garden. He wanted to continue flying for awhile, and really didn't want to go anywhere in particular. Flying in the corridors he felt free and at peace and he needed to feel that with all that had happened recently. He still couldn't believe what he had done in attacking that man, Braig, and how Master Xehanort had told him to embrace the darkness.

"_But Master Eraqus keeps saying I should not use darkness, and I need to get it under control,"_ he thought, _"There are still other worlds to explore, I know I should visit them but I can't decide where to go."_

Terra looked down at his map and noticed a world that he had not previously noticed before, Dunwyn. He stared at it for a bit more it looked much like some of the other worlds he had been to with a large castle in the middle and surrounded by forest. Terra wondered why he hadn't seemed to notice that world before. Even though he had found Master Xehanort and technically completed his mission he wasn't ready to go home yet. He still had questions about himself and he wanted to know if there was some way to control darkness so he could use it freely without worrying about it consuming him.

"_I feel I need to visit this world,"_ thought Terra, _"Something tells me I'm needed here and perhaps I'll find answers I'm looking for."_ With that the young key-blade wielder headed towards the world.

* * *

Terra landed just outside a large impressive castle. He was about to remove his armor when he suddenly heard a call for help from within the castle. He ran straight across the drawbridge and into the central square of the castle where he saw a young child being attacked by unversed. The girl couldn't have been more than five or six years old. There was someone else there to, a man in armor trying to fight off the creatures.

"Back you abominations," he screamed in a loud screechy voice, "I won't let you harm the princess."

Terra drew his key-blade and rushed to the man's side, "let me help you out," he said.

The knight was somewhat taken aback by his sudden appearance, "I say you don't look like any knight I've seen before, but I appreciate the help."

**[Information: Help the Knight defeat the unversed]**

Terra charged straight into the group of unversed and began slashing away. It didn't take long for him to activate his critical form whereupon he was granted increased strength. Now he moved faster and attacked the unversed with more power and precision dealing damage and destroying them. He also noticed a new unversed that he hadn't seen before, it was a large creature that looked like a knight on horseback, before he knew it the creature was charging straight at Terra. He didn't notice it in time and was knocked back by the force of the impact. But the other man came to Terra's aid and slew the unversed before it could charge again. Terra quickly got up and back into the fray and before long he and the knight had managed to defeat all the unversed.

"Calla, oh Calla are you alright," called a man running towards them. Terra looked at the man and the first thing he noticed was the crown on his head and purple robe on his body. This man was obviously a king! He had a great beard and mustache as well as a full head of hair; although the hair was brown in color Terra noticed quite a few wisps of gray and white taking over. He looked like a powerful man who may have a one point been a strong knight himself, and something told Terra this man could still fight if he had to.

"I'm fine father," said the girl rushing to embrace him, "this man helped me."

"I see," said the king finally taking notice of Terra and the armor he still wore. "My word what strange attire you are dressed in and yet it feels somewhat familiar, tell me good sire are you a knight?"

Terra wasn't quite sure what to say as he knew he wasn't supposed to reveal the existence of other worlds, but he also was kind of in a jam. He decided he would lie a little, but only so he didn't have to say the whole truth.

"Yes your majesty I am a knight," responded Terra, "but my kingdom is far away, I was journeying through this place and by chance heard the girl's call for help. My armor is somewhat special too," he continued, and with a flash of light he made the armor disappear and returned to his normal clothes.

"What amazing magic," said the king, "I would love to hear more about this if-

"Ahem," grunted the other knight, "Yes everyone fawn over the new guy it's not like I was fighting those monsters to you know. Why does it always seem as though I'm unappreciated around here?" The knight seemed genuinely bothered by what was going on and stood still with his arms folded across his chest. Terra finally got a good look at him now. The knight was about the same height as Terra and was also of similar build. He had a long face that was currently composed in a scowl, he also had a bushy moustache and goatee as well as large bushy eyebrows.

"Some new guy shows up with fancy armor and now it's like I don't exist," he fumed.

"Please it's not like that at all," said the king coming to the knight's side, "I couldn't run this kingdom without your help Sir Igthorn."

"Igthorn helped save me too daddy," said the girl as if she had forgot.

"That's right I helped," exclaimed Sir Igthorn, "I am the greatest knight in the land," striking a triumphant pose.

"But the other guy helped more," said the girl innocently. Igthorn seemed to fall sheepishly from his pose.

"I didn't mean to intrude," said Terra, "it's just I have experience fighting these things and I thought I could help."

"Well you've helped enough," interrupted Igthorn, "I'm the knight in charge around here so go back to your kingdom and let me take care of things here."

The king raised his hand to stop Terra from leaving, "Hold a moment there, now Igthorn if this fellow knows about those monsters shouldn't we at least ask him about them before he heads away."

Igthorn looked angered at the thought of even considering this, "Your majesty I am more than capable of handling these things and besides we already got rid of them. There won't be any more."

"These creatures are still new and relatively unknown, they may come back," advised Terra. He thought some more about what he said and decided to add, "In my kingdom I have been tasked with riding the world of these creatures I would be willing to help you in any way I can."

"Pardon Sir but we haven't been formally introduced. Tell me Sir Knight, what is your name?" asked the king.

"My name is Terra," he answered.

"Sir Terra welcome to my kingdom of Dunwyn, I am King Gregor, and this is one of my most loyal knights Sir Sigmund Igthorn." He indicated the knight. "And this young girl is my daughter princess Calla." He pointed to the small child.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," said Terra sincerely as he bowed before the king.

"Sir Igthorn," said Gregor, "I want you to escort Sir Terra through the castle on a patrol. I want you to keep an eye out for anymore of these creatures and leave no hall empty. But first find a guest room for our friend so he may rest while he's here."

Igthorn groaned to himself as he answered, "yes Sire." Then he motioned to Terra, "follow me."

* * *

Igthorn lead Terra into a deep part of the castle and to an unused guest room. On the way they managed to have a meaningful conversation.

"So Sir Terra, what is your kingdom like?" asked Igthorn.

Terra thought a bit before answering and decided he would mostly tell the truth. Igthorn didn't need to know everything. "My kingdom is a beautiful place. There is a huge palace on a mountain that affords a fantastic view. At night time the stars are visible for miles and the air fills your lungs with energy."

"And what about your king what is he like?"

Terra laughed to himself as he pictured what Eraqus might look like as a king. "My king is a wise, kind, and compassionate individual. He has been like a father to me since I became a knight." He smiled to himself as he thought of Master Eraqus.

"Indeed," said Igthorn snidely, "you said he was wise. Do you feel he always makes the right decisions?"

Terra stopped smiling as he thought about the question a bit more. He wanted to say yes but knew he couldn't, and yet he didn't want to admit any misgivings he had about Eraqus so instead he answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh it's just I've been worried about King Gregor," said Igthorn, "ever since his wife died I don't think his majesty has been the same. As his loyal knight I'm concerned as to whether he's still fit to rule or not. For instance why he thought I needed your help is beyond me."

"I'm not trying to be better than you," countered Terra, "I just want to help you."

"Well it's just that you came in and took all the glory fighting those creatures off like you did. Sometimes I feel I do so much for King Gregor and he doesn't even notice. Do you ever feel that way with your king Terra?" asked Igthorn.

Terra paused for a moment as he considered this question and decided to actually answer honestly, "Yeah sometimes I do, I feel like all my life I've tried so hard to impress my king but he just doesn't trust me."

"Oh I know how you feel," said Igthorn, "You feel that you were destined for something greater, but certain people are holding you back."

Terra stopped to consider this for a moment, was Eraqus holding him back? Was his refusal to make him a master because he was he wasn't thinking clearly? _"But this is a second chance , isn't the whole reason I'm doing this so that when I return Master Eraqus will make me a master?"_ As he thought some more he realized that Eraqus was giving him the chance to prove himself and in effect make his own destiny.

"Maybe sometimes you have to take what you want, show people that you're better than they think," said Terra.

"Take what you want" replied Igthorn somewhat slyly, "Yes I rather like the sound of that."

It wasn't long before the two arrived at a guest room for Terra. The room was nice enough with a bed and table. The window in the room looked out into the courtyard.

"Take some time to rest if you wish, Sir Terra, and come to me when you are ready to search the grounds for those creatures," said Igthorn.

**[Formed a D-Link with Sir Igthorn]**

* * *

Terra didn't rest long he was eager to help defend this place from the unversed. The two of them roamed throughout the castle. They found a group of the creatures hiding out in the armory. Terra and Igthorn went to work fighting them and in no time at all had defeated them.

The next place they searched was the battlements. Quite a few flying unversed had made their way up to the top and were proving quite difficult to attack.

"Time for some target practice," said Igthorn pulling out his bow. He aimed carefully towards the sky at the flying unversed and let loose a few arrows. His shots hit the mark as the unversed exploded disappearing in a puff of smoke. Terra helped out by summoning thunder to strike the unversed out of the sky, and soon they had cleared the unversed from the battlements.

"Oh you can perform magic to can you," noticed Igthorn in amazement.

"Yes, although to be honest I'm not so good at it, I have a friend named Aqua who is much better at magic than I am," responded Terra.

"Tell me Sir Terra have you ever heard of the Gummi Bears?" asked Igthorn.

"No I haven't," he replied.

"Ah I used to have an old book about their stories and adventures," said Igthorn with a sense of childlike wonder. "Most people don't believe in them you know, most people think they're just myths or legends."

"So what are Gummi Bears?" queried Terra

"Many years ago they say that there was a group of bears who had grown far superior to humans. In fact this race of bears had magic, weapons, and technology much better than anything we had. It's unknown how they developed these amazing marvels, but for a long time they lived in great cities in relative peace with humans," began Igthorn. "But then the humans found out about a plot by the bears to overthrow and conquer humanity. Well of course we wouldn't stand for that so we drove the bears from their great cities and across the ocean. The bears abandoned their cities and destroyed most of their technology so we couldn't use it. That was I think 500 years or so ago. Since then there have been some unconfirmed sightings of Gummis Bears, but nothing that's been substantiated. Nowadays most people just think that they are legends and didn't really exist. I thought about them recently when I saw your armor and again just now when you used magic."

"So do you think they are real?" asked Terra.

"I'd like to think so," said Igthorn, "They say that some of their old great cities were in this very kingdom. If the cities are abandoned I'd love a chance to go exploring there who knows what you could find. Why there must be some relics of their magic or weapons left over or other great treasures.

"Well good luck, I hope you find what you are looking for," advised Terra.

"Oh I'm not interested in just those old legends," said Igthorn, "I've been interested in something else for awhile now, but only recently have I begun to take a more proactive approach to getting it."

"Oh what would that be?" asked Terra.

"Oh not now I'm afraid, you see it's a secret," said Igthorn, "anyway come now Sir Terra we still have one more place to inspect for these things."

Igthorn and Terra moved into the castle basement where they found another infestation of unversed. Terra charged into battle raising his key-blade as he slashed away at the monsters. There were more of the mounted knight unversed, they stabbed straight with their long lances and tried to catch Terra and Igthorn off guard. There were others that held axes and swords as they tried to attack the heroes.

"Igthorn I'll distract it," called Terra, "go around on the other side and attack it."

"I understand," said Igthorn.

Terra exchanged blows with the unversed trying to keep it distracted while Igthorn went around to the side, his sword found his mark as it pierced the unversed and it vanished in a puff of smoke. Terra raised his blade as one of the mounted unversed stuck at him with a sword. He continued to parry the blows as the unversed got more aggressive, Igthorn once again saved him as he was able to catch the unversed unawares and it to disappeared. He wasn't looking though as another unversed charged straight at him and struck him with an axe, Igthorn went flying backwards and was knocked against a wall. Terra looked and saw that several more unversed were closing in on a prone Igthorn. Thinking quickly he activated a Magnet spell to pull the unversed away from him trapping them inside a swirling vortex in the air. With the monsters now grouped together Terra leap into the air and began laying into them with aerial attacks until finally he unleashed his Explosion finishing move and scattered them out. He wasted no time in rushing forwards at the confused enemies and began attacking again, it wasn't long before he had finished taking care of them and turned to help Igthorn.

"My that was some show Sir Terra," said Igthorn, "Such raw power, you must be the strongest knight in your realm."

"I don't know about the strongest, but I am certainly more powerful than most," replied Terra.

"Terra," began Igthorn, "You told me earlier that you were trying to impress your king, but didn't feel that he appreciated your service. Tell me what is it he's denying you?"

Terra thought for a bit before responding, "It's complicated, in my kingdom knights are distinguished by a certain rank. I took a test to obtain that rank and my king denied it to me, that is why I'm traveling, to try and prove myself worthy of that rank."

Igthorn listened to what Terra said and then said, "Terra you want to know what I want? I want to be king!"

"You want to be king?!" exclaimed Terra in surprise, "Who doesn't want to be king? I don't think it's likely to happen any time soon though. Besides what's wrong with your current king, Gregor?"

"Gregor is old and a fool! He's too stuck in old ways and can't rule the country properly. I on the other hand will lead Dunwyn into a new age of glory, "shouted Igthorn, "I've been thinking of this for awhile, but it took your arrival for me to finally decide what to do. That's why I'm telling you this. You have the strength of ten men, you like me have been denied something that you clearly deserve. I bet that if you and I combined our strength we could easily overthrow Gregor. Hypothetically let's say I really wanted to overthrow Gregor, if you were to help me I would see that you were made captain of my knights and given the respect and honor you deserve."

Terra was stunned what he was hearing. Was he really only speaking hypothetically? Yet some of what he was saying made sense. How long had he wanted to be a master? Eraquas had not given him the title because of the darkness inside him, but Master Xehonart said that darkness was not something to be feared. Should he help this man in his quest to become king? Even if what he promised was true it wouldn't be the same thing as being named a master, furthermore he couldn't stay here in this world. Finally he reminded himself the whole reason he was on this quest. Eraquas had told him that this journey was second chance to change his mind. As long as there was still a chance that he could be key-blade master he didn't want to give it up for anything else.

"No," said Terra softly, "I don't want to help you with this. I still have a duty to perform. You should think more about what it means to be a knight, I think maybe you're just impatient and impulsive perhaps you should give this more thought."

"Well like I said," explained Igthorn, "It's all hypothetical, I'm sure that someday Gregor will give me my own fiefdom, and I'll rule it the way I see fit. And I'm sure your king will eventually give you what you seek as well."

"Yeah, I suppose so," said Terra.

"It looks as though we've finished clearing out the creatures from the castle, we should check outside just in case there are more," suggested Igthorn.

* * *

Igthorn and Terra had returned to the main square inside the castle where they found king Gregor, he looked as though he had been injured.

"My king, what happened?" asked Igthorn as he approached Gregor to help him up.

"It was another one of those creatures, only it was bigger and tougher than the rest, it came in an instant and took Princess Calla away," replied the king weakly.

"Which way did it go?" asked Terra.

"That way," said Gregor pointing towards the drawbridge.

Terra and Igthorn headed for the draw-bridge, soon they had crossed it and were outside the castle in a small clearing in the forest. From here Terra noticed two different paths that lead to different areas of the very large forest that was just outside the castle.

"How big is this forest?" asked Terra.

"Pretty big," said Igthorn, "The forest covers a large area of Dunwyn, most of the citizens either live in the castle or in small villages scattered throughout this forest. Remember that story I told you about the Gummi Bears? It's rumored that one their old ancient cities lies abandoned somewhere in this forest. Of course the bears were great at hiding their cities so one hasn't been found."

"You really seem interested in these bears," said Terra.

"Well like I said, they're just legends, but I grew up listening to them. No other knights seem to realize the possibility if these cities were real and are now abandoned they probably contain a whole treasure trove of weapons, technology, and magic that we could use for ourselves. Those selfish bears refused to share their technology with us, now that they're gone I say it's ours for the taking.

"What would you do with these things?" asked Terra

Before Igthorn could answer, there was a loud roar. The two knights turned around and saw a large unversed standing up in front of them. It was similar to the unversed knights the two had fought earlier. It was much larger than the regular ones and was clad entirely in black armor with a flowing red cape behind. He was twirling a long and intimidating lance in one of his hands. The unversed rode atop a large black horse that had a long horn protruding from its head; the horse neighed fiercely and fire flew from its mouth. A few feet away was princess Calla lying unconscious on the ground.

"We have to save the princess," yelled Terra.

"Well then let's team up and take care of it," Igthorn paused a moment before adding, "Sir Terra."

**[Information: Team up with Igthorn and defeat the unversed]**

Without warning the large unversed charged straight towards the duo, the knight tipped his lance forward in the direction of the charge. Igthorn rolled out of the way but Terra stood his ground and tried to attack as he got closer. His attack was ineffective and he was simply launched back from the impact. The knight continued to charge around the area, Terra recovered from his attack, and tried to fight the unversed again but couldn't seem to damage it. The unversed stopped charging and his spear began glowing, suddenly it launched a stream of lightning at Terra, he surely would have been hit but at the last second Igthorn pushed him out of the way.

"This thing really is tough," noted Igthorn, "I don't think we can damage it."

"That horse he's on is giving him extra power, we need to get him off the horse, let me try something," suggested Terra.

The unversed began charging again and it headed straight for Terra, this time however Terra didn't try attacking. Instead he raised his key-blade in defense and the unversed attack stopped, his horse was unsteady and reared up on its hind legs. Igthorn saw this and quickly began attacking the unversed until he finally managed to knock the knight off the horse. The knight retreated inside its armor and hid, the horse however continued to run about, it began stabbing with its horn and breathing fire at Igthorn.

"It's vulnerable now Terra," exclaimed Igthorn, "help me attack the horse."

Terra launched himself at the horse and attacked with a vengeance. In no time at all he transformed into his critical mode and gained more power. Next he started casting blizzard spells in hopes of gaining more power, and sure enough he transformed into diamond dust mode. He landed a few more hits on the horse but then it ran to where the knight was. The knight remounted his horse and began charging again, but now that Terra knew how to defeat it, it didn't take long for him to dismount the knight again. Igthorn came to his aid and with a few more strokes the two managed to defeat the horse and it disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Now only the knight remained.

The knight threw aside its lance and drew out his sword. From here on in the battle was mostly one of swords. Igthorn charged straight at the knight but was caught off guard as the knight raised his shield. Using his shield as a weapon he bashed forward into Igthorn, sending him flying back and against a tree. Igthorn slumped over unconscious leaving only Terra to fight.

"Let's finish this," said Terra.

Terra swung his key-blade and steel clashed in the air. The knight managed to block Terra's blows both with his sword and his shield, leaving little room for Terra to attack. Terra pressed onward and struggled to overcome his opponent. Finally he activated his "Brutal Blast" attack jumping into the air and then slamming down into the knight, now he was inflicting damage. Next he unleashed a "Sonic Blade" attack and charged straight through the knight multiple times before inflicting one final blow. The unversed fell down and after a few seconds it disappeared, leaving no trace behind.

"What a splendid show Terra," said Gregor suddenly appearing on the scene, "you did well to defeat that monster and save my daughter."

Terra went over to check on the young child and leaned over her. She groaned for a few moments before opening her eyes and waking up.

"Thank you for saving me Sir Terra," said the girl, "you were magnificent."

"Hey what about me?" said a groggy Igthorn slowly getting up from where he fell. He stood up for a moment before falling down again.

* * *

"Sir Terra," said Gregor turning to him, "I am thankful for your assistance even though your kingdom is far from here. Also I want to present you with this medal for bravery." With that Gregor pinned a medal in the shape of an ornate "D" on Terra.

"May this medal be a reminder of the brave deeds you have performed today and protect you as you have protected Dunwyn," continued Gregor. "You will be welcomed in Dunwyn anytime,"

"I appreciate the offer your majesty," answered Terra, "I was happy to help, but now I must be going, I think my kingdom is still in need of my services. Also I hope that someday I may earn my own kings favor as I have earned yours."

"If you have the dedication that I have seen, that day will not be far off," said Gregor.

"Hey what about me?" moaned Igthorn, he was sitting down covered in a mess of bandages. Igthorn tried to stand but immediately hurt himself and sat back down.

"Well you certainly fought valiantly, but in this case I believe Sir Terra was the hero, seeing as you were injured during the fight," said Gregor.

"But I'm the greatest knight in all of Dunywn," protested Igthorn, "I should share in some of the glory."

"Tell you what Igthorn," said Gregor, "after you've rested and healed up a bit you can try again to claim some glory, I'm sure we'll still have need of you then."

Igthorn stood up in a huff, he stood up so fast though that he forgot he was injured and immediately hurt himself again.

"Ouch! Ow! Oh!," he groaned, "Hmph! If anyone needs me I'll be in my room recovering. Oh and Terra the sooner you leave the better, I certainly won't be sorry to see you gone." Igthorn stood up, slowly this time, and limped off to his room. King Gregor and Princess Calla couldn't help but snicker and laugh as he hobbled away. Even Terra smiled a little as he looked at Igthorn.

"Don't worry about him, he'll be alright," consoled Gregor, "a bit of rest and he'll be good as new."

"Your majesty maybe you should keep an eye on Igthorn," suggested Terra.

"What do you mean?" asked the king

Terra was about to speak, but then hesitated. Should he tell Gregor what he heard Igthorn say earlier? Should he cast suspicion on this knight? Was Igthorn really only speaking hypothetically? Terra thought about it for a few moments. _"I shouldn't say anything,"_ he decided, _"I have no proof and I'd be accusing a knight with only my word, plus Igthorn's just had a hard day."_

"It's nothing," said Terra, "forget I even brought it up. Now I really must be going your majesty,"

* * *

With that Terra activated his armor and raised his keyblade in a salute to Gregor and Calla, with that he turned and left. Terra crossed the drawbridge that lead out of the castle. It was at that moment when he noticed a stranger walking towards him apparently on his way to the castle. The stranger was clad in weird attire dressed in a bright green colored doublet and sky blue hose. He had a red hat with a silver feather in it and was carrying a large lute on his back. His face looked handsome and young with emerald green eyes. His hair was dirty blonde with one strand hanging off in front of his face.

"Ah greeting fair sir," said the stranger, "would this by chance be castle Dunwyn?"

"Yes it is," said Terra, "I'm afraid I'm just leaving."

The stranger looked sad, "Oh how disheartening! Here I have just arrived and you are taking your leave. Why you won't get a chance to hear my wondrous melodies!"

"Oh well I'm not really into music much, no offense but I don't think you can play the kind of music I like," said Terra.

"Eh you're probably right," he replied, "I certainly do enjoy singing a ballad, but truthfully I am much fonder of women who give me their attentions. Oh I will sing songs in praise of strong fellows like you, but whatever reward you may shower on me for composing an epic aria in your name simply cannot compare with the reward of a beautiful maidens kiss. I tell you women will simply swoon in your arms if you can use the right words to express and describe their fair features to them in poem or song."

Terra was starting to get annoyed by this guy and tried his best to ignore him and simply leave, but the stranger stepped in front of him blocking his way.

"Forgive me sir knight but I have not had the pleasure of your name," he said.

"Terra," replied Terra curtly.

"And I am the famed traveling minstrel known as Medy," said the stranger identifying himself. "I travel far and wide throughout the lands. I play for princes and paupers alike all come to hear my songs. They say that there is no one as melodious as Medy. Do you see the humor in that good sir?"

"Yes I do, now if you'll excuse me—" Terra began before getting cut off.

"Won't you stay and listen to one of my songs? I've only just arrived and it would be good fortune for you to start whatever quest you are going on in song. Or perhaps you have done some great deeds that you would like me to put in song so that you will be remembered throughout the ages? Or maybe—"

This time Terra managed to cut him off, "I'm sorry I simply don't have the time." He began to quicken his pace putting distance between himself and Medy, though he glanced back one more time and thought to himself, _What a spoony bard!_

He continued walking until he was out of sight before activating his glider. He boarded it and shot out into the sky, it wasn't long before he was back in the corridors of darkness searching for his next destination.

"_The struggle with darkness has been one of the hardest battles I've ever had to endure. Am I jealous of Aqua? Am I like Igthorn who seems like a good person, but is simply jealous of not being in the spotlight? If that's the case then maybe that's what I have to come to terms with in order to defeat the darkness. I will make you proud of me, Master Eraquas, someday you'll see_," he thought to himself,_ "I'll prove I'm a worthy to be a keyblade master."_

* * *

The battle was long over, even though Terra had managed to defeat Xehonart he still lost as his body was now consumed. Only his armor lay in a crumpled heap still clutching the key-blade as Xehonart arose to admire the new youthful body he had acquired. He hadn't noticed that the pile of armor had risen up behind him to assume a battle ready stance, it seemed Terra's spirit was not fully defeated.

"Your body submits, your heart succumbs, so why does your mind resist?!" exclaimed Xehonart.

As Terra's armor stood up he noticed something pinned to the chest. It was a medal of some kind, he had not noticed it before and saw that the medal was glowing.

"What is that medal?! Where did you get it from?!" demanded Xehonart.

The armor remained silent as it could not speak, but the medal continued to glow as if in response.

"You think one good deed can overcome the darkness," laughed Xehonart, "you are a fool!"

Terra's armor stood in a battle ready position and waited for Xehonart to make the first move. The medal continued to glow and provided a bastion of will to Terra's mind.


	2. Ventus's Story

**Ventus's Story**

Ventus traveled through the corridors of darkness on his glider. In the past it had given him a great sensation of freedom and thrill. He enjoyed riding on his glider free as a bird, it helped him take his mind off things, and right now he had a lot on his mind so he wondered how long he would go riding. He had just recently reunited with Terra and something was different about him. It was hard to explain but Terra seemed to have lost his confidence and his enthusiasm, Terra seemed more serious and sullen and even though he had found him in the next instant he was gone.

_I bet he's still sore about not being made a keyblade master_, thought Ventus, _I hope he gets another shot at it and next time I know he'll do it. I wonder if Master Eraquas was right about Terra not being able to control his darkness that sounds so absurd. The Terra I know is a good guy and one of my best friends, he thought._

Ventus decided to look at his map, he had taken one from his room before he left on this trip so he would have some idea of where he could go. It was then that he noticed a world he hadn't seen before. The world looked like many of the other ones he had seen before. There was a large castle surrounded by an expansive forest as the picture. The map labeled the world as Dunwyn, he wondered why he hadn't seemed to notice it before. Part of him wanted to continue surfing among the stars hoping that it would help take his mind off all the things he was thinking about involving Terra. Another part of him was keen to explore more new worlds and see new things. In the end his more adventuress and ambitious side won out and he decided to visit this new world.

* * *

He landed on top of a mountain in this new world. At first he didn't see the castle anywhere in sight. Ventus looked around and noticed a lot of strange ruins around him. They seemed like old stone structures that may have once been part of a great city. The ruins were on top of a small mountain and were partially obscured by a growth of tree; perhaps they had sprung up in the years since the city had vanished. Something else caught Ventus's attention, it was what looked like a large stone door that had some writing on it. The door was carved into the side of a mountain. The writing was in a strange language that Ventus didn't understand, the door was slightly ajar and Ventus was able to push it open and enter into the chamber.

The chamber wasn't very big, and seemed rather ordinary. However there was something about the back wall that was interesting. The back wall was like one giant mirror, it was made of a shiny reflective surface and what looked like segmented mirrors lining it. Ventus looked into the mirrors and saw his reflection in the mirror, he walked closer to see his reflection more clearly. In the next instant the image in the mirror changed and suddenly in his place stood Vanitas!

"Hey loser," taunted Vantias.

"What are you doing here? What's going on?" asked Ventus.

"You mean you haven't figured it out yet?! You really are slow," berated Vanitas.

"I don't even know who you are, who are you?" said Ventus

"I don't have time for this," answered Vanitas, "let's settle this," with that he drew out his keyblade.

Ventus summoned his keyblade and swung it at the mirror wall. He struck the image of Vanitas and suddenly it vanished. Ventus looked into the mirror and saw himself looking back from it. He studied his visage in the mirror closely making sure it was him. Everything looked the same except for one thing; there was a gold medallion on a leather strap hanging from his neck!

It was a big gold medallion simple in design, there was a carving of some sort of animal, it looked like a bear. It also had a noticeably large ornate "G" in the center. Apart from that it seems like just a large piece of jewelry. Ventus turned it over and examined it from all angles, but found nothing else strange about the medallion he decided to continue wearing it. Ventus turned to leave and walked back outside onto the mountain, he continued looking around as he took in more of the world where he was. From atop the mountain he was able to finally see the large castle in the distance and what looked like a forest between the mountain and the castle. There was a path that extended away from the ruins and lead deeper into the forest, he decided to follow it.

He began walking down the path and didn't notice anything unusual, suddenly as he was walking he felt himself get pulled up by the ankle. In the next instant he was hanging upside down from a tree completely disoriented. He quickly recovered and summoned his keyblade to cut the rope and let himself down. Ventus hit the ground a little harder than he expected and blacked out, before he did though he thought he saw some strange figures approaching him.

When Ventus awoke he found himself tied up to a tree. Presumably the same tree he had been caught in from the snare. He heard voices talking, his vision hadn't returned completely so he couldn't see who was talking.

"Zummi, why'd you tie up this human here, and what was the big emergency that you called us all here for," said a gruff and harsh voice.

"Well normally I would have just left him here alone, but when I saw that thing around his neck I had no choice," said another voice.

"Zummi are you even sure that thing's real?" asked a third voice, this one sounded like an elderly female.

"Oh I've seen enough pictures, I'm certain it the real deal," said the second voice.

Ventus slowly raised his head when he did he was looking up at three bears. One was dark brown wearing a yellow shirt and green cap, another was orange colored and seemed to wearing a dress, and the third was purple dressed in a purple cloak and red cape.

"Whoa, what are you guys?" asked Ventus.

"We know who we are," said the bear with brown fur, "the question is who are you?"

"I'm Ventus," said Ventus.

"And uh where did you get that medallion?" asked the purple bear.

"Oh this I just found it recently in some ruins in a mountain next to this forest," answered Ventus, "it looked cool and I thought I would wear it."

"A likely story," said the brown bear, "I think it more likely that you stole it."

"Stole it?" asked a puzzled Ventus, "where would I have stolen it from?"

"I don't know," yelled the brown bear, "you tell me."

"Uh hang on a second," interrupted the purple bear, "why don't you tell us more about how you found it?"

"Well I was wandering around in some ruins in these mountains not far from here, I walked into a hidden room in the mountains. I looked into a mirror and suddenly I realized I was wearing it around my neck," said Ventus. As he spoke he noticed the purple bear was staring deep into his eyes.

The purple bear spoke again, "I don't think he's lying Gruffi." He spoke to the brown bear identifying him by name.

"It just sounds too unbelievable," said Gruffi, "he just happened to find this medallion in some ruins and we just happened to catch him."

"Hey can I ask something?" said Ventus, "what is this thing anyway, why do you care so much about it?"

The bears looked straight at Ventus this time a little stunned.

"You mean you don't know what this is?" asked the orange female bear.

"Honestly I thought it was just a piece of jewelry, I thought it looked cool so I wore it," answered Ventus.

"Well I think it's unlikely he stole it then," said the orange bear, "why would he steal it if he didn't know what it was?"

"He could have thought it was a shiny bauble and wanted to sell it for money," retorted Gruffi, "there are any number of things we don't—"

Gruffi was cut off as strange creatures suddenly appeared out of thin air all around Ventus and the three bears. They were unfamiliar to the bears, but Ventus knew immediately what they were.

"What are these things?" yelled the orange bear.

"Unversed," said Ventus, "untie me and I'll help you get rid of them."

"I think we'll have to trust him," said the purple bear he rushed over to help unite Ventus. In a few moments Ventus was free and had summoned his key-blade to fight the unversed. The bears had disappeared into the forest, except for the purple bear. The unversed had cut off his retreat.

"Oh dear," he exclaimed as he looked around realizing he was trapped.

Ventus moved closer to the bear and raised his weapon in a defensive position, "stay close I'll protect you."

**[Information: Protect the strange bear from the unversed]**

* * *

As Ventus got into a battle ready stance and began attacking unversed. He struck fast and hard managing to deal a multitude of strikes against his enemies before they could retaliate. He noticed a new form of unversed that looked like knights in armor atop horses. Ventus charged straight at them and began raining blows upon them, one of the unversed blocked his attack with his shield and caught him with an axe. The blow sent Ventus flying back. These unversed were a bit tougher than previous ones he had fought and he had to rely on some new tricks to take care of them.

"Wind," he called, and summoned a large tornado that he used to scoop up the creatures and trap them inside, the strong winds dealt damage to the unversed and managed to destroy a great number of them. Ventus used a combination of ice magic and rapid blows, before long he had defeated all the unversed.

"Wow that some mowerful pagic, uh powerful magic," said the purple bear, "And that sword you have is incredible. What is it and where'd you get it?"

"This is the keyblade, I'm a keyblade knight," answered Ventus, "and those creatures that attacked us are called the unversed."

"You're a knight?" asked the purple bear, "then you must have some code of ethics you follow."

"Well sort of, actually I don't honestly know whether or not there's a special oath we take or something. I'm actually just a knight In training, but I can tell you that as a keyblade knight I fight for honor, justice, and light. I must use my keyblade to bring balance and order," exclaimed Ventus.

"Zummi! Why'd you stay back?" asked the brown bear returning from the woods.

"Those creatures appearing were our cue to leave," said the orange bear, also returning.

"Well I tried getting away, but was trapped. Then this young boy here helped me out." said the purple bear, "he was able to easily take care of them like it was nothing, uh what's your name again?"

"My name's Ventus," answered Ventus, "who are you guys?"

"Oh that's right we haven't been properly introduced," mumbled the purple bear.

The brown bear stepped forward to stand in front of the purple one and faced Ventus, "There's a good reason for that. You're a human and we don't exactly have fond memories of humans."

The purple bear responded to the brown, "but Gruffi, I just saw him cast some interesting spells, not only that but he's a knight, I'm sure he's of good character, finally we still have the whole issue of that gummi medallion he found. There still may be more things he can tell us about it."

The brown bear was about to respond, but Ventus interrupted him and stood to face the three bears, "I can't say I'm entirely sure of what's going on, but I gather this much. For one reason or another you don't trust me and I can understand that, but you seem very interested in this medallion and honestly so am I. Finally you seem like good people so if there's anything I can do to help you I will."

Ventus held out his keyblade and knelt down in front of the bears. "I give you my word as a keyblade knight that I will do anything I can to help you and I won't betray your trust."

The other bears stared at him for awhile before the brown one spoke. "Give us a minute to discuss this among ourselves."

The bears huddled together and talked among themselves for a few minutes. Ventus couldn't hear what they were saying and simply stood there waiting, after what seemed like a long time the brown bear came forward and spoke to Ventus. "We talked about it and even though we haven't had contact with humans in a long time, the fact that you saved Zummi plus your speech just now has given us confidence that you may be trustworthy. We've decided to trust you for now, we feel there is much we can learn from you. By the way, as Zummi said earlier we haven't been properly introduced. I'm called Gruffi."

"My name is Zummi," said the purple bear walking forward and offering his hand to Ventus, "and it's a measure to pleat you, uh pleasure to meet you."

"I'm called Grammi," said the orange bear, "you seem like a nice well behaved boy Ventus."

"I'm glad to meet you all," replied Ventus.

"Well now that we've finished with introductions let's get out of here before more of those things show up," said Gruffi.

"Where will we go?" asked Ventus.

"We have a home not far from here," said Gruffi, "follow us and we'll take you there."

Ventus followed the bears through a path in the forest, the path took many different twists and turns before finally ending in front of a large tree in front of a lake. The tree was very ornate and old, it seemed like it belonged in this spot and looked quite regal in its location.

"Welcome to Gummi Glen!" exclaimed Grammi, indicating the tree.

"You live in a tree?" asked Ventus puzzled.

"Eh sort of," answered Zummi.

Gruffi marched forward and pulled one of the tree branches. Instantly a section of one of the tree roots opened, the three bears jumped into the entrance and motioned for Ventus to follow them. Ventus jumped into the entrance, he briefly slid down a tube and found himself inside a large dining room. The room was big and had plenty of furniture as well as a table inside, most surprising when he looked up at the ceiling he noticed that there was water and fish swimming in it. He realized that the ceiling was actually under the lake he had seen outside the tree, this room must be directly under it.

"What is this place?" asked Ventus.

"This is Gummi Glen," said Zummi, "we're the descendents of the Great Gummis."

"Who are the Great Gummis?" asked Ventus.

"You've never heard of the Great Gummis?" said a surprised Gruffi, "I know we haven't been around humans in 500 years but I thought maybe you'd of still heard about us. Well it's a long tale, and it might explain why we don't trust humans. Zummi do you want to do the honors?"

"Well it's a very stong lory, uh long story," began Zummi, "it starts a very long time ago but mostly in the same place, here in the forest. At that time there was a great civilization called the Great Gummis. They were bears like us, they built great cities and had wonderful technology, not only that but they were strong warriors and also had knowledge of magic. For a while they lived alongside humans in relative peace with them, but things began to change. You see at that time humans were very primitive and didn't have anything close to what the Gummis had in terms of weapons or technology. They began to get jealous, they wanted to have the technology and weapons the Gummis had, but the ancient Gummis guarded their secrets so well that they couldn't be copied or duplicated. So eventually the humans tried to take the secrets by force. That's when the old gummis decided to flee, they abandoned their cities, built great ships, and sailed away across the sea to where the humans couldn't follow. Not everyone left, a small band of bears, our ancestors, decided to stay behind and help maintain some of their dwellings. We also were entrusted with a task, to contact the Gummis and tell them when it would be safe to return. This place you are in right now is called Gummi Glen it was once a great hall and a center for knowledge where hundreds of Gummi Bears lived, now only a few of us are left."

"That's an interesting story," said Ventus, "but what does it have to do with this medallion I found?"

Zummi glanced at the medallion again, "Oh that, well remember how I said the ancient Gummis could do magic? That's how they did it! That medallion is specially made and it's what they used to channel their magic. It's a great artifact and significant piece of Gummi history,"

Ventus looked down at his medallion and fingered it a bit before deciding, "in that case you can have it," he took the medallion off his neck and placed it on Zummi.

"Oh my stars, are you serious?" exclaimed Zummi, "this is such a treat greasure, uh great treasure I can't believe I'm actually holding one, I don't know how to thank you Ventus, oh hey would you like to see another of our ancient treasures?"

"Sure I'd love to see anything you showed me," he replied.

* * *

Zummi lead Ventus away from the great hall and down a long corridor. There were many rooms along the side of the wall and after a few minutes they arrived at the one they were looking for. It was a library with shelves of old books and a few scrolls lying around. There wasn't much in the library but there was one item that seemed to be given a place of honor. It was a large, worn, and grand book. The book rested by itself on a single pedestal at the far end of the room. The book also had a lock on it that prevented it from being opened.

Zummi motioned to the book. "This is the Great Book of Gummi, unfortunately its been locked for centuries so we don't even know what's inside. It's a left over artifact from the ancient gummis-"

That was all he managed to say as suddenly the medallion he was wearing glowed a bright golden glow. It pulled Zummi over to where the book was placed and fit itself into the lock. In the next instant the book was opened before their eyes!

Zummi could hardly believe what was happening and called for the others to join him, "Grammi, Gruffi, Tummi get in here now! Something wonderful has just happened!"

A few minutes later the other bears had come into the room including a new bear that Ventus had not seen before, He was a young boy probably not older than 10, he was blue in color and wore a brown patched tunic as well as a red hat with a feather in it. Ventus noticed he was slightly pudgy but still moved relatively quickly. As soon as the unknown bear saw Ventus he was slightly taken aback.

"Whoa, is that a human? What's he doing here?" asked the blue bear in a calm deep voice

"I was just going to find you and tell you Tummi," said Grammi, "this is Ventus, he's a new friend. He may be a human but he's also trustworthy and he saved Zummi's life."

Ventus looked down at the brown bear, "pleased to meet you Tummi,"

"I guess I'm pleased to meet you too Ventus," said Tummi, "hey Zummi what was it you called us in here for anyway." Tummis stopped as he suddenly noticed the great book was opened.

Zummi was studying the writing In the book and began to read a passage from it, "I the last of the Great Gummis lock this book containing all our lore and magic. You who read these pages have unlocked your past, now find your future. Help the good fight the wicked, strive to make Gummis great once more."

In a flash the writing on the page vanished and the pages were blank. Zummi turned the pages back and noticed that previous ones still had writing in them.

"Oh this is incredible," he explained, "this book has history, magic, food, instructions for building things, it really is amazing. Not only that but the book says were supposed to keep writing in the book. We have to continue recording our stories, accomplishments and anything new we discover. The idea is that the book will never be complete it will always be recording our great accomplishments."

Zummi looked again at Ventus, "I really don't know how to thanks you Ventus, you've done more for us today then we could ever have hoped for. Not only did you return an ancient treasure to us but you also helped us rediscover our roots. This will truly be a day to remember in Gummi history."

"Wow!" exclaimed Tummi, "the Great Book has been locked forever, but now it's opened, I wonder if they have any tips on sailing in there."

"Say Tummi I forgot to ask but how are the cubs?" asked Grammi.

Tummi replied, "Oh they're fine I finally got them to settle down and go to sleep. Looking after them sure works up an appetite though, especially Cubbi that kid never runs out of energy. I think I'll fix myself a snack."

"You keep snacking in between meals Tummi and you're going to grow wider than you are taller," rebuked Gruffi.

"Oh don't pay him any mind," said Grammi, "at least someone around here appreciates my cooking."

"Yeah you can see from his stomach just how much he appreciates it," retorted Gruffi.

"So who are these cubs?" asked Ventus, "are there still more of you that I haven't met?"

"Land sakes I keep forgetting that you haven't seen everything Ventus dear," said Grammi, "come with me and I'll show you."

Grammi lead Ventus away from the library and back into the long hallway, they walked past a few more rooms until finally coming to the one Grammi was searching for. She paused before opening it.

"The poor things aren't more than a few years old," she began, "Gruffi and I found them alone and abandoned in the forest, no clue who their parents are we took them in and have been watching over them ever since."

"What happened to their parents?" asked Ventus.

Grammi hung her head before responding. "We don't know, as far as we know we're the only bears left in the forest. Zummi thinks that maybe some of the other old Gummi cities left guardians to watch over them, but we have no way of knowing for sure. Since there are so few of us left any bear we find is welcomed into our home. I guess you could say we're kind of a hodgepodge family. Anyway Tummi said they're asleep so let's be quiet."

She opened the door slowly and quietly the room inside was dark but two small candles provided a glimmer of light. Ventus peered into the room and noticed two very small beds occupied by two very small bears. One was yellow wrapped in green clothes the other was pink wrapped in a multi-colored robe. The bears were very young and couldn't have been more than a few years old, though the yellow one looked like she was a bit older. They lay in their beds sound asleep barely making a sound.

"The yellow one is Sunni and the pink one is Cubbi," whispered Grammi, "I'm glad we have at least one other girl here. I hope that Sunni and I can become close someday. I have a very important secret I want to pass onto here someday. Well I just wanted to check on them, let's leave before we wake them up." With that Grammi and Ventus left the room and gently closed the door behind them.

"What secret were you talking about?" asked Ventus.

"Well you see we bears have a secret drink we call Gummiberry Juice," began Grammi, "it's a very important part of our culture and heritage. When Gummi bears drink they gain the ability to bounce. We can bounce pretty high to depending on how much we drink and we can bounce off any kind of surface you can imagine. It allows us a pretty quick escape if we're in a tight spot, but that's not all. Gummiberry juice has strange and interesting properties, it has other uses too. Depending on how its prepared it can have a wide variety of other effects. I know one variation that when drank will make things lighter than air. Anyway the recipe for how to make the drink is very old and traditionally guarded by a female. Right now I'm the only women in our group so the only one who knows how to make it, that's why I hope someday I'll be able to pass down the recipe to Sunni.

Ventus and Grammi had wandered back into the dining room where Zummi and Gruffi were waiting there to meet them.

"Oh glad to see you again Ventus," he greeted, "listen I'm wondering if you'd be willing to do me a fmall savor, uh small favor?"

"Sure what do you need?" replied Ventus.

"I want you to help me take care of a few pests. Gruffi has informed me that some ogres are messing around near our gummiberry bushes," explained Zummi.

"Ogres?" said Ventus intrigued, "where did they come from?"

"It's a long story," began Gruffi, "you see this kingdom of Dunwyn is neighbors with another kingdom called Drekmore. Once long ago it was a mighty kingdom of ogres who were united under a strong king. Ogres aren't exactly very smart but they are strong and a force to reckoned with if they happen to be united under a powerful leader. At that time there was a strong king who lead the ogres and tried many times to invade Dunywn. But one of Dunwyn's old rulers defeated their king, destroyed their castle, and scattered the ogres far away. There are a few that still remain in the ruined castle, but without a strong king to unite them they're just strong brutes who wander about, all brawn with no brain. Occasionally they roam into the forest and right now we've got a few who are getting close to our gummiberry bushes. We've got to drive them off before they do any damage to our crop."

"No problem I'd be happy to help," said Ventus.

"Normally I place a few traps around our bushes to stop the ogres from getting to close but somehow they've managed to discover most of them and disable them," explained Gruffi. Either that or they're tripped the traps and it didn't stop them

"I'll help too," said Zummi, "I've just found a bunch of spew nells, uh new spells in the great book and I'd like to try them out."

"Hang on a minute Zummi, don't forget to take a fresh bottle of Gummiberry juice," called Grammi, she produced a small glass bottle of purple juice with a cork in it and handed it to Zummi. The she looked at Ventus, "You know I'll give you a bottle too Ventus dear, though to be perfectly honest I have no idea if the juice will even work on humans."

"Well if nothing else I'm sure it tastes good," joked Ventus as Grammi handed an identical bottle to him.

"Be careful you two," said Gruffi walking back into the room, "in addition to the ogres there may also be more of those creatures we saw out there, stay sharp."

"Don't worry Gruffi, we'll be back before you know it," answered Zummi.

**[Formed a D-Link with Zummi]**

* * *

Ventus and Zummi were back outside of the large tree and sure enough upon exiting it they found themselves faced with a large group of unversed.

"Want to see some more magic?" asked Ventus slyly to Zummi

"Oh yes of course," said Zummi excitedly.

Ventus launched his keyblade at the group of unversed cloaking it in ice. Afterwards he unleashed another blizzard spell at them. A few more regular attacks and he changed into "Diamond Dust" form. Then he charged straight into the whole group and used his icy powers to deal heavy damage to all of them. A few more of the new knight unversed appeared and proved a little more challenging but a few more hits and finally Ventus launched his finishing move at them destroying the remaining unversed.

"My that's impressive," said Zummi, "I hope someday I can become a great enough magician to do things like that."

"Give it enough practice and I'm sure you will," encouraged Ventus.

The two walked quickly down a path and before long they were in a large clearing that was surrounded by a large quantity of bushes with different colored berries growing from them. In the middle of the clearing were three ogres. Two of them were huge and intimidating with huge hands, big feet, large heads and wielding very heavy clubs, one of the ogres was purple in color and the other was green. The third one was much smaller than the rest and Ventus wondered if it was even a grown ogre or if it was simply a child still growing he was also green in color. This third one was examining a piece of rope that must have been one of the traps that Gruffi spoke of, he was turning it over in his hands trying to determine its purpose. He was also trying to speak to the other ogres and convince them that his find was important.

"Now look at this," he began, "here we are walking through woods and we stumble upon strange bushes with strange berries."

"Uh yeah that right," said one of the other ogres.

"And we also find that there's nasty traps placed all around here, Gad get caught in rope and Zook fall down into pit. Toadie come help friends escape."

"Uh yeah you big help for small guy," said the other ogre.

"Now that we free we should leave this place, go back to Drekmore," said the purple one.

"Not so fast," said the small one, "Don't you wonder why this area has traps in it?"

"Not really," said the green one. The small ogre began fuming, he was obviously seeing something very important that his two colleagues couldn't.

"We go walking in forest and never we see traps like this, now we come to this area and suddenly it seems like no one wants us here. Why there traps in this area? Who put them here? And what are these strange berries?" he asked.

"Why any of that matter?" asked the green ogre he reached a hand towards the berry bushes and grabbed a large handful of them, dumping them in his mouth he chewed a bit before spitting them out. "These berries not taste very good."

"But Toadie think these berries is reason for traps. We too far from Dunwyn castle for traps to be for that. I never see these berries in other parts of forest, why they only grow here? Toadie thinks someone is planting these berries for some reason," said the small ogre.

"So what if someone plant berries?" asked the purple one, "we don't need to worry about that."

"Yeah, these berries no taste good, so we can't use these for food," replied the other one.

"But if berries no taste good why they being planted? And why these traps to guard them? Toadie thinks someone wants these berries protected," said the small one.

"That's none of your business," said Ventus, jumping out from behind the bushes and appearing in front of the three ogres.

"Ah I thought so," said Toadie, "you must be wanting to pick fight with great Toadie."

"You don't look so tough," said Ventus.

"Oh but Toadie not alone, Gad! Zook! Lets teach this guy lesson for trying to trap ogres." The other ogres gnashed their teeth and raised their clubs showing that they were ready for a fight.

**[Information: Defeat the 3 ogres]**

* * *

Ventus charged straight at one of the two larger ogres hitting it in the face with his keyblade. He continued racking up strikes before pulling away and running to the opposite end of the clearing. The ogres chased him down, but Ventus was ready for them unleashing a mine square around him, the ogres charged straight into the mines and were blasted backwards. Ventus launched his keyblade cloaked in wind at the three ogres and watched as it bounced around hitting all three of them. The weapon came back to him and Ventus charged right back at the ogres. The battle was going well for Ventus until he got too cocky and left himself open, as he was attacking one of the ogres the other one caught him in the back with a blow from his club. Then the other one struck him in the side sending Ventus flying back, finally even Toadie managed to kick him hard while he was lying on the ground.

"Small boy think he tough knight," mocked Toadie. "now we find out why you want guard berries so badly."

Ventus reached at his side trying to rub the pain away. It was then that he felt something in his pocket and remembered the bottle of gummi-berry juice that Grammi had given him. Deciding that he had nothing to lose he pulled the cork out of the bottle and drank its contents it tasted very sweet at first but had a tart aftertaste. In the next instant he felt a change come over him, he still felt pain but it was as if it was only a small inconvenience. He picked up his keyblade and felt a renewed strength inside him.

_I wonder if this is how Terra feels all the time_, he thought.

Ventus swung his blade at one of the ogres and was surprised when it cracked the metal helmet it was wearing. He struck again and was even more surprised when the blow sent his enemy flying backwards. Regaining his confidence he continued his attack and noticed how powerful his blows were against the ogres. After some time he had knocked out the two larger ones and all that remained was the small one.

"Toadie thinks it might be time for strategic retreat," said Toadie as he began running away.

Ventus chased after him and with one final blow sent the diminutive ogre flying out of forest and out into the sky.

"Whaaaaaa!" screamed Toadie as he was launched out of the clearing.

* * *

Ventus was back in Gummi Glen telling the others about what had happened.

"Land sakes, I can't believe it," said Grammi, "who would have guessed that out juice would not only work on a human, but have a completely different effect."

"I wonder if the old humans knew it could do that," pondered Gruffi, "might explain why they wanted Gummi secrets so bad."

"Well there's no way to know for sure, but I doubt that the ancient Gummis would have given the juice to humans," replied Zummi.

"Still it's great that we know this now," said Gruffi "In all honesty we've been away from humans for so long that we don't know much about them."

"Come on then," called Grammi, "this calls for a special dinner to celebrate keeping our berries safe and meeting our new friend."

"Yum!" said Tummi, "I hope we meet more humans so we can have more special dinners."

"Thanks for the offer guys," said Ventus, "but I'm afraid I have to go."

"Are you sure?" pleaded Grammi.

"I had a great time here and I enjoyed meeting all of you here, but as a keyblade knight I have a lot of other responsibilities and I have other places to go, plus I'm busy trying to look for a friend," said Ventus.

"You'll come back and visit won't you?" asked Tummi, "Maybe next time you come Grammi will make an extra special dish for you."

"If I have time I'll definitely come back," said Ventus, "but I'll never forget you guys, I never forget my friends." Ventus knelt down on the floor and embraced the bears in one big group hug.

"Be careful out there kid," said Gruffi.

"Don't skip any meals," advised Tummi.

"Always learn something," said Zummi.

"Here take another bottle with you," offered Grammi, handing him another bottle of juice. "If you ever need a refill you know where to find us."

Ventus said goodbye and headed outside the glen. When he was alone he activated his armor and glider and took off into the sky. He was cruising around the stars again his head a lot clearer than before.

_Terra and Aqua will always be my friends_, he said to himself, _but that doesn't mean I can't make new friends, and I hope Terra and Aqua make new friends too. I bet someday we'll all look back on this little squabble and laugh about it, when Terra becomes a master. And hey I'm sure I'll be one too someday, I'll have to come back when I become a master and see if Grammi will make me a special dinner…_****

* * *

Ventus was lying on his back still frozen, he could only watch helplessly as Vanitas readied his weapon to stab Aqua, he had to shake this ice off him, but how? Ventus suddenly remembered the extra bottle of Gummi Berry juice that Grammi had given him. He managed to barely move his arm to his pocket where it was stored and uncorked the purple concoction. He brought the bottle to his lips and drank down the contents. He felt his strength renewed as the sensation coursed thorough his veins. Ventus knew the effect didn't last long but it was long enough to help get him back on his feet.

"Stop" he yelled at Vanitas.

"How did you get free?" mused Vanitas, his eyes traveled to the discarded bottle and he seemed to have understood, "as soon as I take care of you I'm going to find out who gave you that bottle and take care of them too."

Ventus eyes lit up with rage and he charged into battle with Vanitas.


	3. Aqua's Story

**Aqua's Story**

Aqua had departed from Radiant Garden having just told Ventus to return home. Now she was gliding amongst the stars her head still full of everything that had just happened. The three friends had for one brief moment been reunited at Radiant Garden only for the reunion to be cut short as they suddenly began bickering with one another. She was still replaying the conversations over in her head.

"You mean you've been spying on me?!" accused Terra he said with a little bit of venom in his voice.

"You're awful Aqua," said Ventus, he wasn't angry just disappointed and sad.

Aqua couldn't deny it any longer ever since she had become a master, things had changed between the three of them. The change was now more evident than ever after her recent confrontation with Ventus and Terra. Terra was angry with her for keeping watch on him. He probably felt that the Master didn't trust him and that only made him feel angrier. Ventus was angry at her because she was keeping and eye on Terra. Her relationships had suddenly become more complicated than she would have ever imagined.

"_And I only just became a master,"_ she thought to herself, _"is this just the beginning? Are things going to get even worse from here on out?"_

All of her training in order to become a master had not prepared her at all with how to deal with these sorts of issues. Did Eraquas have any of these kind of problems when he first became a master? Maybe when this was all over she would sit down and talk about this so more with the Master. For now she still had a mission to complete, although part of that mission included bringing Ventus home she couldn't bring herself to force him to come home. Aqua only hoped that with both her and Terra telling him to return home he would listen, for now she had more important things on her mind. She still had to visit the rest of the worlds and access the damage the unversed had done in each one.

She opened up her map which showed the various worlds around her own. She scanned the map carefully and noticed a world that she hadn't seen before. The picture of the world showed a large castle surrounded by a large forest, the world was labeled as Dunwyn. It was strange that she hadn't noticed it before seeing as it reminded her of one of the kingdoms she had visited earlier. All of those worlds had some sort of castle in them.

"_I guess I better get on with this,"_ she thought, _"here's hope that visiting this world will help clear my mind of all that's going on right now."_

* * *

Aqua appeared outside a large castle with a drawbridge that lead inside. She deactivated her armor and entered the castle. The square inside the castle was bustling with activity, of particular interest was a large crowd that had gathered around a performer. The performer was singing a song and playing his lute. He was dressed in bright green colored doublet and sky blue hose. On his head he wore a bright red hat with a silver feather in it. Aqua moved closer to hear what he was singing.

"_A legend is sung of when England was young_

_and knights were brave and bold!_

_The good king had died and no one could decide_

_who was rightful heir to the throne._

_It seemed that the land would be torn by war_

_or saved by a miracle alone!_

_And that miracle appeared in London town_

_the sword in the stone."_

His voice sounded heavenly and he held the notes in just the right places while giving an air of majesty and glory to his song. She stood at the edge of the crowd trying to get a better look at this minstrel. The people all around cheered and threw coins at him they were eager to hear the rest of the story.

"That is how the story of King Arthur begins," exclaimed the minstrel, "there is much more to the story, and I'm sure you wish to hear more."

"Yes we do," said someone in the crowd, "tell us more,"

"Then you'll have to come back tomorrow," he called, "I will be in the square tomorrow singing more tales, for your listening pleasure."

With that the crowd dispersed and the minstrel caught sight of Aqua. She noticed his attention and tried to turn away but he was already rushing towards her with his lute in hand.

"I thought my eyes were deceiving me but it is not so," he began, "I see the most beautiful maiden ever has come to listen to me compose a ballad describing her most radiant beauty."

Aqua looked the young man over, he was a tall lanky kid with somewhat long hair. One of the stands of his dirty blonde hair was hanging over his head in front of his face. His green eyes were staring right into Aqua's sapphire iris's. While he certainly looked nice Aqua wasn't in the mood for any of his games right now, she had work to do.

"That's very flattering," said Aqua, "but I'm not here for a song I have business to attend to. Also I'm not a maiden I'm a knight."

"Then this will truly be a great epic piece," he began, "the story of the beautiful maiden warrior." He began strumming on his lute attempting to come up with an appropriate tune, when suddenly monsters appeared all around the square.

"Unversed!" declared Aqua as she pulled out her key-blade and got ready for battle

**[Information: Defeat all the unversed]**

* * *

Aqua raised her key-blade and rushed straight at the group of the unversed. She scored several hits on them and finally made them disappear in a cloud of black smoke. A new type of unversed that looked like a knight on horseback came charging straight at Aqua, she blocked the attack and launched her own assault against it. She noticed several more horse knights charging at her so she sent out some mines to protect herself. The knights charged straight over the mines and were exploded upon. Aqua launched a Firaga burst attack to keep attacking the unversed and before long she had defeated them all, except one. Aqua hadn't noticed that one of the knights was charging straight at her and was about to stab her with its lance. Right before it hit her it was suddenly blasted out of the way by a stream of water, Aqua turned to see what happened and noticed that the minstrel was there playing his lute.

"How did you do that?" asked Aqua.

"I know some magic, specifically magic that is tied to water," responded the minstrel, "I have a small amount of control over water. Most people don't realize but magic is tied to music in ways that not everyone understands. But those who are master musicians know that behind every great piece of music there is magic involved. I see you are an accomplished spell-caster. I consider myself somewhat of an amateur, but I still do the best I can. This lute I have helps me to focus and better use my magical abilities. By the way we haven't been formally introduced, I am Medy the wandering minstrel."

"I am Aqua keyblade master," she responded.

"Well Aqua, it's a pleasure to meet you, I think if you give me enough time you may yet change your mind about having me compose a ballad in your honor, already my mind is filling with ideas with which to express to you," said Medy.

"Listen Medy," began Aqua, "you seem like a great guy and all, but right now I have things I need to do and I have no interest in pursuing a romantic relationship, do you understand?"

Medy looked at her slightly crestfallen but only for a moment and then responded, "I understand that you have a tough visage and sense of duty befitting of a knight, but I will keep trying to break through your icy exterior, and you will not be able to resist."

Aqua sighed and turned to leave when she noticed two people running into the square. One of them was a knight in grey armor with a bushy moustache and goatee. The other must have been a monarch of some kind as he was wearing a crown. He also had a on a grand purple robe. Both men were walking towards Aqua, the king giving her an intense look. After a moment Aqua noticed that he was staring not at her, but at the keyblade in her hand.

"My word could it be that another keyblade knight has graced us with her presence?" he asked the other man as they approached.

"I hope not sir," said the knight, "or heaven knows when I'll receive gratitude again."

"Hello there young maiden, I see you wield a keyblade. Are you by chance a friend of Sir Terra?" asked the king.

"Terra?!" exclaimed Aqua, "Yes he's a friend of mine, has he been here before?"

The king seemed please, "Yes he was, not too long ago he helped us to rid the castle of those horrid creatures, he also saved my daughter from being kidnapped by one of them."

"Yes and I also assisted in retrieving her," said the knight looking somewhat nettled.

"I thought we had seen the last of those creatures," said the king.

"But it seems perhaps that Sir Terra couldn't finish the job," finished the knight with a sneer towards Aqua, "I think it would be a mistake to allow this one to even try, furthermore she's a woman."

"Hey just because she's a girl doesn't mean she can't fight," said a high pitched girls voice. Aqua looked an saw a young girl who couldn't have been more than 6 or 7 years old running to join the others.

"Settle down Calla," said the king to the girl. Finally he turned to Aqua and said, "I'm so sorry for being late with introductions especially if you're a friend of Terra's. I am Gregor king of Dunwyn, this young girl is my daughter Princess Calla, and this fellow is Sigmund Igthorn my most trusted knight."

"My name is Aqua, and yes I'm a friend of Terra's," she said, "I would also be willing to help you in riding this land of the unversed.

"That is good to hear," said Gregor, "Any friend of Terra's is welcome here."

Igthorn sighed as he heard these words. Gregor looked from Aqua to Medy and noticed him for the first time.

"Oh you must be that traveling bard I've heard so much about," he said indicating Medy, "yes my subjects have told me that you have spun wonderful tales and fantastic lyrics for their enjoyment. I am truly pleased to have you in my kingdom."

Medy bowed to the king as he acknowledged these words, "thank-you your majesty."

Igthron suddenly interrupted, "I hate to be a pest, but before we talk about the new bards and keybalde knights we have, how about taking care of those creatures. What were they called? Ah yes the unversed!"

"Right you are Sir Igthorn, it is fortunate that we have Aqua here to help us. I think you and her should work together on this and go exploring the castle—"

Igthorn again interrupted the king, "If I may your majesty, I think our efforts would be better focused if we split up this time. As much of a treat as it was to work with Terra last time, if we want to make sure we're completely safe I say we should each investigate separate areas. I'll see to the defense of the castle."

"Where then do you propose Aqua should go?" asked the king.

"If I may, your majesty," pipped in Medy, "on my way to this castle I heard reports from some of the citizens that these unversed creatures are appearing on the highway as well. Several of those who travelled here have reported attacks from those things."

"Would you be alright then patrolling the area outside my castle on your own dame Aqua?" asked the king.

Aqua was about to answer when Medy jumped in. "You cannot think of sending her out alone to face these abominations. If I may be so bold I would like to request to go with her on patrol,"

"I thought you were only a bard, can you fight?" asked Gregor.

"I assure you I have some knowledge of bardic magic I will protect fair Aqua with my life," he pledged.

"Well if Lady Aqua is alright with this arraignment I shall permit it," replied the king.

Aqua sighed to herself as she looked over at the stupid wide grin on Medy's face. He did look kind of cute in his own kind of way. He was overly confident and silly, not sullen and serious like Terra. As much as she didn't want to lead him on, she decided that since he did save her in that last battle he was at least worth a shot.

"I wonder what Terra would think of him?" she thought, "Or I wonder if he would be jealous of him…."

Finally she responded to the request, "Medy can come with me, but before we go I wanted to ask a few questions about Terra. When was he here?"

"Not too long ago," responded the king.

"The last time he was here he and I took care of those creatures that were infesting the castle. We also rescued princess Calla after one of the monsters absconded with her. Terra took all the glory and the credit I might add," sneered the knight.

"I see," said Aqua, "was he okay? Did it seem like he was bothered by anything?"

"I wouldn't say so," said the knight, "he seemed all there."

"Okay, thanks," said Aqua, "I think that's all I need to know, Medy lets go into the forest and take care of the unversed."

"Don't worry about the castle I'll make sure and keep it safe while you're away," called Igthorn.

"Good luck and be safe," called King Gregor

"You show them," called Calla.

** [Formed a D-Link with Medy]**

* * *

Medy and Aqua had arrived outside the castle and began walking towards the forest, it was at this point that Medy attempted to make conversation with Aqua.

"Hey Aqua, tell me have you ever heard of the Gummi Bears?" he asked.

"Gummi Bears?!" said Aqua, "no I can't say I have."

"I was thinking about them since we're entering the forest. I've heard stories that at one time they had a great city hidden somewhere in this forest," explained Medy. "In fact I've been working on a song to describe their legends, would you like to hear it?"

"I'd love to but…." said Aqua.

Medy didn't wait for Aqua to finish her sentence and instead pulled out his lute and began strumming away. In a few moments he began singing the song.

"_Dashing and Daring _

_Courageous and Caring_

_Faithful and friendly with stories to share_

_All through the forest they sing out in chorus_

_Marching along as their song fills the air!_

_Gummi Bears! Bouncing here and there and everywhere!_

_High adventure that's beyond compare_

_They are the Gummi Bears!"_

"It's not quite finished yet," he said, "I think it could use a few more versus."

"So what exactly are Gummi Bears?" asked Aqua.

"Well I've heard about them throughout my travels, but it was only in coming to Dunwyn that I've heard the most rumors," said Medy. He then began to explain what he knew to Aqua, "From what I've heard about 400 or so years ago there were a race of bears who formed great cities, and had weapons and technology far better than our own. Not only that, but they were scholars of arcane lore and had a mastery of music and magic; what I wouldn't give to have studied music under them. For awhile they lived in peace with the humans of this area, mind you this was before the kingdom of Dunwyn was officially formed. Then for one reason or another war broke out between the two species. Humans claim that they won the war and forced the Gummi's to flee, but no one knows for sure what happened. All we do know is that Gummi Bears haven't been seen in these parts for a very long time, most of their art and technology has been lost to history. Now they only live on in songs such as mine."

"So they knew magic?" asked Aqua, "I think I wouldn't mind learning some of their spells. What was with that lyric in your song about their bouncing everywhere?"

Medy turned to Aqua to explain, "According to the old legends the Gummi Bears were able to bounce or jump incredible distances, they could use this technique to travel long distances or escape from sticky situations, no one knows how they did it. I hear it was some sort of magic potion they had."

"But it's been so long, according to you 400 years, since these bears existed so I don't think the chances are high that we'd ever see any," replied Aqua.

"Keep your eyes peeled fair Aqua, if luck does favor us we may yet find the ruins of their ancient city, and perhaps inside we may discover secrets of their magic" quibbled Medy.

It was at that moment that a group of unversed appeared around the duo encircling them. The new type of unversed, knights on horseback, were among the ranks.

"Let us join our forces in battle to defeat these monsters," chimed Medy.

* * *

Aqua summoned up a blizzaga spell and fired it directly at a group of the unversed, freezing most of them in her path. She then continued with a Thundaga spell that attacked the group of unversed around her. With her magic spent she charged in with her keyblade and began slicing into unversed. Medy began playing his lute trying to summon up some magic to stop them but before he could do anything a knight unversed charged into him knocking him down, Aqua noticed this and countered the attack defeating the knight and rescuing Medy.

"Are you okay?" she asked

"I'm fine, just a little bruised," replied Medy.

The two got back together and walked toward another section of the forest, again they were attacked by unversed. Medy once again tried to use his magic to help he managed to blast an unversed into the air with a powerful water spell, only for the unversed to fall on top of him as it came crashing back to the ground. Aqua came to his aid and used her blizzaga magic to blast the unversed away freeing Medy.

"Are you hurt?" she asked Medy

"Just my pride," he replied.

The two walked deeper into the forest keeping an eye out for unversed, as they continued walking suddenly Medy was caught in some kind of trap. His leg was yanked up by a rope into a branch on a tree.

"Hey what's going on!?" yelled Medy dangling from the tree.

"Medy are you alright?" asked Aqua, looking up into the tree.

"Help me get down," he called.

Aqua was about to help him when suddenly unversed appeared all around her and Medy surrounding them.

"That's going to have to wait a bit," said Aqua as she drew her keyblade and faced the monsters.

**[Information: Protect Medy, defeat the unversed!]**

Aqua immediately set up some defensive mines around herself the unversed charged straight into them and were thrown back by the explosions. Aqua continued hitting the monsters with her keyblade as she scored consecutive hits on them. She kept her cool and used her fighting prowess to keep up her assault on the unversed. Some of the unversed began climbing the tree where Medy was trapped, trying to attack the helpless minstrel. Aqua noticed this and summoned a thunder spell to stop them. Medy was still struggling in his bonds and tried to get free. The unversed were growing in number as Aqua continued fighting them. After a few more minutes of desperate fighting she slew the last one and the battle was over.

"Wow! That was amazing Aqua!" called Medy still stuck in the tree, "but think you can get me down now?"

"Yeah no problem," said Aqua, with that she threw her keyblade like a boomerang at the rope that was holding him up. The keybalde connected with the rope and cut it in an instant. Medy spun in the air and fell down on his feet, the impact was pretty hard and he struggled to get up.

"Oh it seems I've been injured," he said as he struggled to get back on his feet. He hobbled for a bit and then fell down. One of his ankles was sprained from his impact.

Aqua was getting tired of dealing with Medy's less than stellar fighting skills, and decided it was time to let him know. "Listen Medy, you wanted to come on this mission with me in order to help me, but the fact of the matter is I've helped you three times now. I think you just wanted to come to be close to me, but I've already told you I have no interest in pursuing a romantic relationship."

"But I can fight," protested Medy, "I swear I have arcane skills connected to music,"

"Well whether you do or you don't I can't be babysitting you all the time," said Aqua with that she helped him up onto his feet. "Go back to Dunwyn castle and keep entertaining the crowds there, leave the fighting of unversed to me okay?"

Medy got to his feet and slowly walked back towards Dunwyn Castle. His pace was still slow because of his ankle, but soon he passed out of sight. His head was hung in shame and he seemed to have lost all his spirit. Aqua was slightly sorry for what she had said to him, but knew in the back of her mind it was the right thing to say. She continued walking deeper into the forest, though after a few steps she heard a voice call after her.

"Excuse me," said the voice, "I couldn't help but notice you have a keyblade, are you a keyblade knight like Ventus?"

Aqua turned to face the voice and was surprised to find herself face to face with a small bear dressed in purple robes and wearing a large ornate medallion around his neck.

* * *

Medy had made his way back to the castle and was resting his foot in the castle square. He was deep in thought about what Aqua had said and was feeling useless and frustrated when he noticed Sir Igthorn approach him.

"Greetings Sir Igthorn," said Medy, "how fare you?"

"I fare poorly, Medy, and do you know why?" asked Igthorn.

"Why good sir?" replied Medy.

"I don't feel as though I am appreciated enough, why I am the greatest knight in all of Dunwyn. Should I not be hailed as such?" said Igthorn.

"Oh perhaps I can assist in that regard, I could write a song in your honor that will spread far and wide. Your name and deeds will forever be immortalized throughout the ages, for a small fee of course," sang Medy.

"I have a few sovereigns stored away," said Igthron he took out a small bag of gold and tossed it to Medy, "but I feel that perhaps I could use your talents for a different purpose. Tell me more about your magical abilities."

Medy pulled out his lute and began strumming, "well as I said before most of my magic is connected to music. My songs can generally cause different effects on people whether positive or negative. For example there is a song I know that boosts the power of magic users, I know another one that will give fighters more vigor. I know a song that can give you control over someone who's weak minded, then there's a song I know that can put enemies to sleep.

"A song that can put people to sleep, and one that makes people obey you" said Igthorn slyly. "I know exactly what I need. I need to perform a deed of great valor to regain my standing with the king!"

Medy pondered a bit, he thought he knew what Igthorn was saying, but he wanted to be sure, "What exactly are you saying?"

"Have you ever heard of Ogres?" asked Igthorn. Medy shook his head "Of Course. But what has that got to do with anything?"

Igthorn began to explain, "at the edge of the kingdom of Dunwyn is Drekmore, it was once home to a band of ruthless ogres. At one time they were united under a strong king and tried to take over Dunwyn, but Gregor's father put a stop to them. He defeated the king and destroyed their castle. Without a strong leader to unite them the ogres are little more than lumbering cavemen. A few of them still live in Drekmore and occasionally they wander into the forest. With practically no brain I bet they could easily be controlled by your music."

"Yeah I guess so," said Medy, "but what do you want me to do with them?"

"I want you to have them attack Dunwyn castle," explained Igthorn. "Hear me out, we get a hold of a few ogres and have them attack Dunwyn castle using your magic. Then I come to aid of the castle and use my brilliant brain as well as my stunning brawn to defeat them. This selfless act of heroism restores Gregor's faith in me, and will forever brand me as a hero of Dunwyn. I'll finally have my honor back after that cretin Terra stole it from me."

Medy thought it over before he understood, "I get it, you want to stage and attack on Dunwyn so that you can be the hero and look good, but what do I get out of this?"

Igthorn looked carefully at Medy, "correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you have been trying to catch the attention of a certain young keyblade warrior. I think she would be impressed to see you help me defeat a group of ogres. I daresay you would impress her and surely earn her affections."

Medy looked hard into Igthorn's eyes. He could tell that he was entirely serious about everything he was saying. Medy ran the scenario through his head, he'd never been particularly rich, and while the money Igthorn was offering him wasn't that much, the promise of earning Aqua's attention was a tantalizing one. He thought about the idea of putting the kingdom in potential harm, but then he didn't really have any loyalty to Dunwyn or Gregor seeing as he wasn't a citizen of this kingdom. He thought about what would happen if the plan failed and he was caught, but then again with his magic and Igthorn's battle prowess he felt that the odds were stacked in their favor. Medy looked back at Igthorn who was still holding his hand out waiting for Medy to shake it. He looked from his eyes to his hand and made a decision.

* * *

Aqua was still staring into the black eyes of the purple bear standing before her. He was shorter than her by about 2 feet but had the air of someone who was wise and scholarly; he was wearing a gold chain and purple and red cape. He must be one of those Gummi Bears that Medy was talking about.

"Are you a Gummi Bear?" asked Aqua.

"Uh well yes I guess you could say so," said the bear, "are you a keyblade knight?"

"I'm a keybalde master," corrected Aqua, "I'm a friend of Ventus, you mentioned him, do you know Ventus?"

"Oh yes I know Ventus, he's a few nriend, uh new friend. He helped me to protect our berry bushes. I was out helping Gruffi set some more traps for those unversed creatures, they've been wreaking havoc in our forest," replied Zummi.

"So Ventus was here, that's good to know, I'm glad he was able to help you," said Aqua.

Suddenly another bear came running over to the clearing he was about the same size as Zummi but with brown colored fur and wearing yellow clothes.

"Zummi are you finished with those traps yet—" the bear trailed off and stopped talking as he entered the clearing and noticed Aqua. He did a double take as he stared at her for a second and saw that Zummi was in the same proximity as her. "I must be seeing things, because there's a human here with you Zummi, I know we recently became friends with Ventus, but don't you think were moving just a bit to fast?"

"Don't worry Gruffi, she's a friend of Ventus," said Zummi.

Gruffi stared at Aqua looking her over to see if she was trustworthy, before finally declaring. "One day we're living in fear of humans, the next day we suddenly become the first Gummi's in centuries to have contact with them. The times are changing faster than I like, how do you know she's a friend of Ventus?"

"She has a keyblade like him," said Zummi. Aqua materialized her keyblade so that Gruffi could see it. While it seemed to assuage his fears a little, he still looked at Aqua with suspicion.

"I suppose you really must be a friend of Ventus, still that doesn't mean you're a friend of ours just yet," said Gruffi.

"That's okay," replied Aqua, "I hope that maybe in time I could earn your trust and your friendship,"

"That certainly sounds sincere," said Zummi.

Suddenly another voice was heard heading towards them, "Hey guys I finished setting up those traps can we go back home now I don't want to be late for din—" Like Gruffi he trailed off and stopped talking as he entered the clearing and noticed a human standing with the two bears. He was a younger blue furred bear with a brown leather coat and red hat on his head. He rubbed his eyes and did a double take as he noticed Aqua.

"Wow we sure are meeting a lot of humans recently," he said slowly.

"Yeah it certainly seems that way," replied Gruffi.

"I guess it's lucky that you guys had already met Ventus before I came here," said Aqua.

"Maybe so, but it d

* * *

oesn't change the fact that we don't who exactly you are," said Gruffi.

Aqua lowered her head to speak to Gruffi, "Well as I said my name is Aqua, I am a keyblade master that has been charged with riding this land of the unversed, I serve under the same master that Ventus serves under."

Gruffi looked Aqua up and down trying to read her sincerity, he was about to respond to what Aqua had said when suddenly he heard a noise in a clearing a small ways away. The three bears and Aqua headed towards the sound of the noise. As they got closer Aqua realized it sounded familiar, when she finally reached the clearing she recognized the sound as Medy's lute. She and the bears crouched in some bushes, staying out of sight, and poked their heads out to see what was going on.

* * *

They saw three very large creatures standing in the clearing. They were colored green, orange, and purple and seemed to be standing in a trance-like state. Next to them stood Medy playing some sort of song on his lute, it sounded so peaceful and tranquil, and seemed to luring Aqua to sleep, she shook her head to regain her concentration. The Gummi Bears noticed the small distraction but also managed to shake off the effects of the song. Aqua looked back into the clearing and noticed that someone else was there to, she strained to look around the large creatures and noticed that it was Sir Igthorn.

"Looks like I've got them nice and mellow," said Medy, "I think they're open to your suggestions, go ahead and tell them what you want."

Igthorn stepped forward and addressed the Ogres, "Now listen up you ugly abominations I am Sir Igthorn your king,"

The Ogres eyes looked glazed and placid as they repeated his words, "You are Sir Igthorn our king,"

"I want you to bring two friends and attack Dunwyn Castle," he continued.

"You want us to find friends and attack Dunwyn Castle," they repeated lazily.

"That's right and I want you to do it now," finished Igthorn. He turned to Medy, "I think that should do it, now let's get back to the castle and get ready to fight these things, hopefully Aqua is still busy in the forest, with her out of the way we can defend the castle from these things and regain our honor."

"I hope that Aqua comes back after though," pined Medy, "I want her to hear about my courage in defeating these ogres so she'll think I'm brave."

"After this entertaining diversion you and I will be the dual heroes of Dunwyn for years to come my friend," said Igthorn putting his arm around Medy's shoulder and painting a picture of grand things to come with his other. "Let's get back the castle and get ready for our 'friends.'"

Igthorn and Medy walked out of the clearing and out of site leaving the three ogres alone still looking bewildered. Aqua and the bears turned to each other to talk.

"I can't believe what Medy and Igthorn are doing?" exclaimed Aqua, "they're putting the safety of the castle at stake so that they can stage a battle just to make them look good.

"Well it certainly looks bad," observed Zummi, "but I've heard that Igthorn is the kest bnight uh best knight in the land, I bet he won't break a sweat battling three ogres."

"He's still a fool for purposely instigating this attack," said Gruffi, "what if something goes wrong?"

"Shhh hang on a sec," said Tummi" the ogres are saying something."

The group turned their attention back to the clearing where the ogres were standing. Their eyes still looked glazed and unfocused, but they were speaking coherently,

"Duh Igthron says to bring friends to help destroy castle, but only friends we know is ogres," said the purple one.

"Why he say bring only two friends? We can't destroy castle with only two ogres," said the green one.

"Igthorn is our king, we can't just give him two friends we've got to give him more," chimed in the orange one.

"We should call more friends," said the purple one again, "to make sure that castle will fall for our king."

With that the ogres exited the clearing and left out of site. Aqua couldn't believe what she just heard happen.

"Castle Dunwyn is in trouble we've got to go help them," she exclaimed.

"Whoa what do you mean we?" asked Gruffi

"I mean all of us," said Aqua, "we've got to go the castle and help protect it from the ogres attack, and we have to expose Igthorn for what he's done."

"This is a human problem," explained Gruffi, "Gummi Bears haven't interacted with humans in over 500 years, we can't do it now just because of one incident."

"Wait hang on a second Gruffi," piped Zummi, "the ancient Gummis would have helped those in need. We're supposed to help the just fight the wicked, shouldn't we get involved?"

Gruffi glared at the elder bear, "have you forgotten what happened to our ancestors who tried to live peacefully with humans. It's not time to try and integrate ourselves yet."

Aqua was slightly angry, "I know you have reasons not to trust humans, but how do you expect to build a relationship with them again if all you do is avoid them?"

"No offense," said Gruffi, "but you being a human you can't really hope to understand all we've gone through. It's our decision as to when we want to get in contact with humans again, not yours."

"Well that's fine if you don't want to help, but I intend to do everything in my power to help if I can," said Aqua, with that she raced away from the clearing and back towards Dunwyn Castle.

"I'm sorry," said Gruffi turning to Zummi and Tummi, "but that's just the way things are right now, Ventus would understand."

The other two bears stared quietly at Gruffi but didn't say anything.

* * *

Back at the castle a red-headed knight was doing his best to try and bring order to his troops. The surprise attack by the ogres had caught the castle defenders off guard, but he had managed to raise up the drawbridge in order to prevent them from entering. Now the ogres were trapped on the outside hurling stones at the walls of the castle. There were many ogres there too, not just five all of them throwing stones and trying their best to tear down the walls around the castle.

"Courage men," said the red-headed knight, "let loose another volley and let those beasts have it." The archers on the walls fired another slew of arrows at the ogres trying to get them to quit their assault. A few of the arrows struck their mark but they were like small bee stings to a person.

"I say where the devil is Igthorn," called the knight, "why isn't he here planning a counterattack?"

* * *

Back outside the castle things weren't looking much better for Aqua, she saw the drawbridge raised and saw the battle unfolding before her eyes. With the drawbridge up and no way inside she couldn't get inside the castle to help, but she also couldn't see how she could possibly fight all the ogres on the outside to help make it easier for the knights inside the castle. She was just thinking of what to do when she heard a voice behind her.

"I thought you might need help fighting all these ogres," said a deep mellow voice. Aqua turned around and saw young blue bear in brown clothes standing near her.

"I could use some help," said Aqua, "what do you have in mind?"

"I'll lure the ogres away from the gate and maybe then the knights will have a chance to come out and get them. If I lure enough of them away you should be able to fight through the rest. We have to make the knights think it's safe for them to let the drawbridge down," explained Tummi. With that he gulped down a purple looking drink out of a glass bottle and began bouncing incredibly high. He threw a few stones at some of the ogres closest to the castle and managed to get their attention. Then he bounced away from the castle deeper into the forest with the majority of the ogres chasing him away. The drawbridge came down and Aqua rushed in, she ran into the central square and noticed that Igthorn, Medy, Calla, and Gregor were already standing there.

"It seems the ogres are retreating Sir," observed Igthron, "I will make preparations for us to chase after them."

"Good idea Igthorn," said King Gregor, "but make sure some knights stay in case they come back to the castle."

"I don't think you should listen to anymore of Igthorn's ideas your majesty," said Aqua running into the square to join the group. Everyone turned to look at her, especially Igthorn,

"Lady Aqua whatever are you talking about?" questioned Gregor, "Sir Igthorn is my most loyal and brave knight."

"No he's not," protested Aqua, "he's responsible for the entire ogre attack in the first place. He set it up in order to try and earn fame, but it got out of control from him."

Igthorn looked surprised at how much Aqua seemed to know, but he quickly recovered and regained his composure. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Aqua, but it seems that since you were unable to help defend the castle you now have resorted to telling lies about me."

"I must say Lady Aqua that is a very serious accusation," said Gregor, "do you have any proof to back that up?" If not then I will not believe you and you must cease defaming Sir Igthorn's good name."

Aqua realized she had no proof and looked around grasping for something anything that could prove her story when she noticed Medy. "Medy you were there in the clearing I know you were only going along with the plan to impress me. You heard everything Igthron said, if you really want to impress me then come clean now and tell the truth."

All eyes turned to look at the bard who merely shuffled his feet and looked down at the ground. A lot of things were going through his mind, and he was silent for a long time before finally speaking

"It's true," he said, "Igthorn and I came up with a plot to try and stage an attack on the castle so that we could like heroes when we stopped it. I used my magic to try and convince a few of those ogres to attack the castle."

Suddenly all eyes were on Igthorn who was clearly sweating bullets with his scheme finally exposed. He looked around for a bit trying to decide what to do. It was at that moment that two ogres suddenly burst into the square and took in the scene before him.

"King Igthorn we is here to serve you," they said, "what do you want?"

"King Igthorn?!" said a surprised Gregor, "what is going on here?"

Igthorn looked around as all eyes were on him, he quickly realized his plan was out of control, and to top it all off he was being exposed for it. He figured it was all over so he pulled out his sword and pointed it at king Gregor.

"You just had to come clean didn't you Medy!" he screamed angrily, "well it seems that the plans have changes, all I wanted was a little bit of glory and now I don't even have that. So if I can't be respected as a knight I'll be feared as a ruler. King Gregor surrender your crown to me! Or I'll have these ogres destroy the castle!"

Igthorn continued to point his sword at Gregor who couldn't believe what was going on. In the next instant Aqua had summoned her keyblade and knocked away Igthorn's sword from the king. Igthorn turned his attention to Aqua and glared at her.

"Let's see how tough you keyblade masters really are," he said to Aqua challenging her, "you know Terra was the one who convinced me to try and take over the kingdom. It must sting knowing that he helped to betray you."

"You're lying," screamed Aqua

"Well I don't care what you believe!" yelled Igthorn, "Ogres help your king and destroy these fools!"

**[Information: Defeat Igthorn and the two ogres]**

* * *

Aqua charged at Igthorn and began attacking him. She quickly realized that he was a tough fighter as he managed to block all her blows. Igthorn was more than a match for her as he began moving forward for the attack, he managed to catch Aqua unawares and sent her flying back. She recovered and summoned some wind magic just in time to prevent the ogres from closing in on her, the wind magic blew the ogres away. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Medy was leading Gregor and Calla away from the square and into the castle to try and keep them safe. Aqua began launching fire magic at the ogres catching them on fire as they stomped around trying to put it out. Aqua came at Igthorn again trying to land a hit but he was just too swift for her. He managed to hit her and sent her flying backwards.

"You're just no match for me, some keyblade master you are" taunted Igthorn, he stood over Aqua gloating when suddenly he was blasted out of the way by a stream of water.

Aqua looked in the direction of the blast and saw Medy running towards her.

"Sorry Aqua, I just wanted you to like me, I didn't expect it to go this far," pleaded Medy.

Igthorn got up from being knocked down and sneered at Medy, "you traitor, you've made the wrong decision Medy. If you had stuck by my side I would have made you my court minstrel when I am king. Now I will destroy you, Aqua, and anyone else who gets in my way!"

"I don't think so Igthorn," challenged Medy. He picked up his lute and began playing a beautiful flowing melody. Aqua noticed how it wonderful it sounded, it was almost as if the song was filling up her entire being. In the next instant she felt a strange sensation as if she was overflowing with power. Suddenly without her realizing she had transformed into Diamond Dust Form.

"Medy what just happened?!" asked Aqua in surprise.

"No time for that," replied Medy, "as long as I keep playing you'll be powered up."

Aqua felt renewed as the power from her diamond dust form radiated around her. She charged again at Igthorn and this time she managed to land a large number of blows on him. Igthorn tried to defend himself but Aqua continued her assault with her strength being powered up by ice. She attacked Igthorn again and sent him flying back with her blows. After another assault she launched large chunks of ice at him preventing him from continuing his attack. Igthorn stubbornly shrugged off the ice and tried once more to get the better of Aqua. He struck her a few times but her strong resolve held and she raised her defense against his attack. Igthorn staggered as his sword was blocked and Aqua again used an opening to attack him some more before finally knocking him out.

"The throne should be mine," growled Igthorn. He lay in a crumpled heap on the ground.

With Igthorn down that just left the two ogres to deal with. Aqua wasted no time in going after the first one. She was still powered up as she launched large chunks of ice at the ogre. She also threw ice at the ground and watched as the ogres slipped and slid on the icy ground. It seemed that everything was going great until she noticed she was no longer in Diamond Dust form. She looked towards Medy for an explanation and saw that he was no longer playing his lute he had been knocked down by the other ogre. He recovered and tried to defend himself from the onslaught. Instead of relying on music he opted for brute strength as he took his lute and smashed It onto the ogre's head. While the blow seemed to have done some damage to the foe it damaged the lute more than the ogre. Medy's lute was ruined but he used the distraction to get away from the rampaging ogre. Aqua finished the job by planting some mines around the ogre, he stepped too close and was knocked out by the mines. The two ogres and Igthorn had been defeated.

* * *

A short time later the group had gathered outside the castle on the drawbridge. Igthorn has been carried to the entrance by two knights and was unceremoniously heaved out of the castle and across the drawbridge.

Gregor stood to address him, "Sigmund Igthorn for your treacherous actions against the crown of Dunwyn I strip you of your rank of knighthood and hereby forever banish you from this kingdom. You wanted to use the ogres for your own ends? Then go to Drekmore and rule over them as much as you wish."

Igthorn stood up and dusted himself off, he turned to face the king, "You will rue the day you cast me out of this kingdom, I will be back someday Gregor. And when I come back I will take your crown from your head and place it on my own." With that Igthorn turned on his heels and disappeared into the forest, within a few minutes he was gone completely from sight.

Gregor then turned to face Medy, he had been brought out as well though a bit more gently, "I am sorry you got caught up in Igthron's scheme, but nonetheless you were a willing participant in an attempt to bring harm to the castle and its people. Still I admire the fact that in the end you chose to help us and not Igthorn. In consideration of that I will lighten your punishment Medy, you will be banished from this kingdom for only a year. It is my highest hope that you use this year to think about your actions. After a year I would welcome you and your music back into my castle."

Medy bowed to King Gregor, "Thank-you for your mercy your majesty, I won't waste this opportunity."

Gregor and his knights turned to go back inside leaving Aqua outside with Medy.

"I guess I sort of deserved this," said Medy dejectedly.

"You did the right thing in the end," said Aqua, "and I'm glad you did otherwise I would have no way to prove anything against Igthorn. By the way what was that song you were playing that helped to power me up?"

"Oh it's one of the songs I know that can amplify magic power. It's called the "Serenade of Water" when I play it, the song amplifies water magic. I figured since your name was Aqua you had to know some form of water magic, looks like the music powered you up good."

Aqua smiled and looked at Medy, "Yeah I guess it did, thanks Medy, so what are you going to do for the next year?"

"Well my lute is broken so I'll have to get another one," he said as he held up the broken pieces of his lute. "Or I could learn to play a new stringed instrument, I've wanted to learn a new instrument for awhile, maybe this is a sign that it's time to do that."

"Well be careful and be safe whatever you do," said Aqua, then she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, "that's for luck, in whatever you do."

Medy couldn't help blushing as she kissed him, "Hey Aqua I know you said you weren't interested in a romantic relationship now, but how about in a year?"

Aqua thought for a moment before responding, "maybe I will be, I'll come back this way in about a year and see if I see you how's that?"

Medy grinned as he turned to walk away, "yeah I think I'd like that." With that he walked away down a path leading into the forest, it wasn't long before he was completely out of sight.

* * *

Once he was gone Aqua heard a rustle in the bushes, suddenly the young blue cub jumped out of them.

"Thanks again for your help," said Aqua, "I'm glad you decided to come back."

"No problem," said Tummi, "I know that Gruffi is kind of old and set in his ways, but I agree with what you said. How are we ever going to trust humans again if we spend our whole lives avoiding them? I think Ventus would have wanted us to help you so I'm glad I was able to."

"I have to go now, there are still other places that need my help" said Aqua.

"Hey Aqua say hi to Ventus for me would you?" called Tummi, "and don't forget to tell him that he's welcomed at Gummi Glen anytime!" With that the young bear bounced into the forest out of sight. Aqua activated her armor and glider and headed straight for the sky.

"_Medy turned out to be a pretty nice guy in the end,"_ she thought to herself, _"and I know that Terra is the same way. When the chips are down and it matters most I know Terra will make the right choice. He's struggled along the way to be sure, but maybe he needed to struggle in order to realize what's important to him. I will come back in a year to see if Medy is still around….if Terra hasn't asked me out by then."_

* * *

Aqua had raced head first into the portal of darkness that was consuming her friend Terra, his attempt to free himself from Xehonart's control had resulted in him falling further into the abyss. Aqua was not about to let that happen, she gathered him together on her glider and was racing back towards the opening that would lead to salvation. The opening was getting farther away and it didn't look as though both of them could make it, in a split second Aqua made what very well may have been the last decision of her life. She gave her armor and keyblade to Terra and encased him in magical protection, then using her power she directed him out of the abyss and into the light. She watched helplessly as Terra's body cleared the portal and returned to the world, knowing that his safety had cost her own. Aqua fell deeper into darkness as she regretted only one thing.

"Ven I'm sorry, I might not make it back as soon as I thought," she began, "but I promise I'll be there one day to wake you up."She continued falling and realized that she was going to miss seeing someone else as well.

"Medy, I really enjoyed your songs," she said, "it doesn't look like I'll get to hear them again, but I hope you never stop playing."


	4. A New Friend, A New Foe

**Gummi Kingdom**

By: El Cid the Champion

_I was as excited as the rest of you to finally hear about kingdom Hearts 3. Geez it feels like it's been forever…..Well here's the continuation of my story now set in Kingdom Hearts 2 but it will reference events that happened in Birth by Sleep. On another note I will playing Santa this year in a Christmas Play! Yeah!  
_

The kingdom of Dunwyn was an ideal and peaceful place. The castle at the center stood as a beacon of safety to the citizens; the knights of Dunwyn were renowned far and wide as some of the bravest ever. The forest that surrounded the castle was vast and covered a large area. There were rumors that this forest had once housed a lost civilization of great bears, although no one had seen these creatures in 400 years. Recently it seemed as though new creatures had taken over this area, dark and mysterious creatures. They came in a variety of colors and shapes and were appearing everywhere in the forest, but they weren't the only ones. There were other rumors of other creatures, including some that looked surprisingly like humans. One such of these creatures was walking out of a dark portal on top of a hill that overlooked much of the kingdom.

The stranger was dressed entirely in black. He was wearing a long black cloak with a hood that obscured his face. As soon as he was clear of the dark portal the stranger took off his hood to reveal a youthful face. His hair was mainly short but he had two long strands of dirty blonde hair that fell in front of his face. He had green eyes that scanned the surrounding area. It seemed as though he was looking for something in particular, but after awhile he stopped looking. For a moment he was looking at nothing in particular, then he stretched out his hand an instantly in a flash of light a stringed musical instrument appeared in his hand. He grabbed it with his other hand and began lightly strumming it. The song he played seemed to speak of loss and loneness.

"Aqua you never did come back," said the stranger, "I still come to this forest and wait for you hoping against hope that I'll see you again, but I guess you still don't think of me as anything more than a friend. Xemnas says that nobodies don't have hearts, but then why do I feel as though I miss you? Is this a feeling? An emotion?"

The young man continued to play on his stringed sitar not really caring if anyone heard. "I wanted to show you this new song, plus I have a new instrument. Who knows maybe someday you will come back? If it wasn't for all the work I have to do with the Organization I'd have probably come back here. My banishment is over, I bet King Gregor would welcome me back to entertain the crowds. I could play songs and tell stories like I used, but the truth is my heart is no longer in it. I don't feel carefree and fun anymore. I wish I could, but it all seems like so long ago back when I was called Medy, but now instead I'm Demyx" he said finally identifying himself by name.

The stranger in black continued to stare into the distance at the castle that loomed on the horizon, and the lost memories it held for him. He struck a few more notes on his sitar, when he heard a loud noise behind him. The stranger turned around and noticed a dark portal opening behind him, he recognized the portal as the same kind that he and other Organization members used to travel. Demyx starred for a long time at the portal wondering what was going on, after awhile s figure stepped through the portal. He walked very slowly out and only managed a few paces before he collapsed and fell face down onto the ground. The portal closed behind him.

Demyx starred at the new stranger, he was clad entirely in black armor, though his helm and shield were of a dark blue color. His armor also had spikes protruding out of it from different areas. The stranger had not moved since he had first emerged from the dark portal, he wasn't sure what to make of him and was puzzled as to why he had come out of a dark portal.

"I thought only Organization members could use those types of portals," thought Demyx, "but I've never seen this guy before, I wonder who he is or where he comes from?" Demyx was toying with the idea of whether or not to try and awaken the stranger. The knight looked injured so Demyx used a healing spell on him. The stranger stirred a bit and began speaking a few jumbled words

"Rosa, Kain where are you? Are you safe? We have to stop these monsters. Come to me so we can fight together."

Demyx didn't understand what the stranger was saying, but decided he should take him back to Organization headquarters, _I'll be they can help him out, _he thought, _and who knows maybe this guys a nobody and he needs out help. _Demyx tried to lift the stranger up but the armor he wore made him very heavy, and after trying and dropping him a few times he began panting. He was about to try again when he heard voices approach.

"I saw that strange thing appear in this direction, it looked like a swirling mass of energy, come on Toadie keep up so we can find out what that thing was," said the voice.

Demyx heard that voice and fear came into his senses, he recognized it as belonging to Sigmund Igthorn a former knight of Dunwyn who seven years ago had betrayed his oath and attempted to rebel against its king and take the crown as his own. Demyx had helped to stop him in the past and was willing to bet that Igthorn wasn't about to forget that. He dropped the body of the figure and quickly ran to hide in the bushes. A few minutes later Igthorn appeared in the clearing along with a group of ogres.

"Well, well, well, what have we hear?" asked Igthorn eyeing the prone body of the knight.

"Toadie doesn't know oh despicable one," answered the small ogre, "methinks he has something to do with strange purple energy we see earlier."

"I think you're right Toadie," answered Igthorn, "and if he knows something about that strange purple energy perhaps he can help us use it to invade Dunwyn. I think we should make this guest more comfortable. Ogres! Pick him up and bring him back to my castle!"

The gang of large beasts grabbed the figure and easily lifted him off the ground. Then they turned around and carried him out of sight. Demyx emerged from his hiding place and began following the group. After awhile the forest ended and instead lead into a barren land with a dilapidated castle, Demyx had heard of this place, it was called Drekmore and had once been a kingdom for Ogres. Nowadays it was merely a ruined fortress that was only a shadow of its former glory, it was also where Igthorn and his gang of ogres were headed. Demyx stopped just short of entering into the castle, he was hesitant to enter and wasn't even sure if he wanted to.

"It's not my business," he said to himself, "I'm part of the Organization now, whatever is happening here in this world is of no concern of mine. Besides I've been goofing off for so long, I still have work to do for the Organization and I have to get back to it." With that he activated his own dark portal and stepped into it

"I'm sorry Gregor," he said before he left, "I hope whatever Igthorn's planning you can deal with. In a former life I would have risked more to help you, but now I just can't." He paused for a bit before adding, "Besides she's not here to make me be a more courageous person," With that he stepped into his portal and exited this world.

* * *

Sora, Donald, and Goofy had just left the Pride Lands. They were back inside the cockpit of the Gummi Ship and sailing among the stars in space, it was at that moment that Sora noticed a star in the sky vanish completely.

"Hey guys did you see that?" he asked.

"See what Sora?" answered Goofy

"I just saw a star go out, it was there in the sky and then in suddenly disappeared as though it wasn't," he replied.

Goofy and Donald shared a knowing glance at each other. They seemed very concerned.

"A star going out is bad news," said Donald, "it's a bad sign."

"King Mickey left to go check on things after he noticed stars going out," said Goofy.

"But what does it mean?" asked Sora.

Donald and Goofy looked at each other before answering.

"We don't really know," said Goofy, "all we know is that a star in the sky that goes out is a bad sign. Goofy paused a bit before continuing, "Come to think of it the last time I saw a star go out in the sky was just before we first met you Sora."

"Hmm," said Sora, "I wonder if that means….. no never mind if what you said is true then we need to keep doing our best to try save the worlds to stop the spread of darkness."

"So where to next Sora?" asked Donald.

Sora looked at the navigation computer and noticed a new world had appeared. The image for the world had a large castle surrounded by an expansive forest. Sora continued to look at the world and for some reason felt as though he had been there before, it was a strange sense of déjà vu, but couldn't remember if he had been there before or not. He looked back at the computer monitor and noticed the world was labeled as Dunwyn.

"Hey guys," called Sora, "did you notice we have a new world to go to? I thought were all done after the Pride Lands, but the computer says there's a world called Dunwyn that we have to visit."

"Well let's not waste any time," said Goofy, "let's see who needs our help."

With that the trio headed towards the newly identified world known as Dunwyn.

* * *

Duke Igthorn was back in his ruined castle in the kingdom of Drekmore. He was pacing around in his throne room talking to his loyal servant Toadie.

"What do you think of our new guest?" he asked Toadie.

"Toadie thinks he looks like real tough guy, probably a knight of some kind," he said.

"I was thinking the same thing, but he doesn't look like a knight from Dunwyn, or any other kingdom that I know of," said Igthorn, "and that black armor he's wearing makes me think that he's not a virtuous paladin, but a dark knight. Maybe he could be persuaded to join my cause of conquering Dunwyn."

"But why would knight want to help us? Maybe he wants something in return?" countered Toadie.

Igthorn mused, "I hadn't thought of that, it wouldn't do well for us to conquer Dunwyn only to give it away to that knight." At that point one of the ogres walked into the room.

"Duh your dukiness, the knight is waking up," he reported.

Igthorn and Toadie ran into the room where the knight was resting in a bed. He began stirring as they got closer, although he hadn't taken off his armor so Igthorn couldn't see his face. He could see the knight encased in a shell of black armor though his helm was of a dark blue color. By his bedside were a discarded shield that was also dark blue and a sword that was purple in color.

"What's going on?" the knight asked finally, "where am I? what happened to me? Who are you?"

"You mean you don't remember?" asked Igthorn slyly.

"The last thing I remember was being in my castle, I was fighting some strange creatures, then suddenly everything went dark. The castle walls disappeared, my friends were gone, and I…I… can't remember what happened after that," he said.

Igthorn whispered to Toadie, "he doesn't remember who he is, this is perfect. Let's see if I can spin him a tale that will be beneficial to us all." Toadie snickered at that suggestion.

"That's okay I can help refresh your memory," offered Igthorn, "You see my name is Duke Igthorn, I am a friend of your king. He and I had been talking recently and he agreed to send you over to my kingdom to help me subjugate a new territory, the kingdom of Dunwyn. I was once king of that land, but the peasants rose up and threw me out of my castle. Your king told me that you were the best knight in your realm and said that if anyone could help me to reclaim my throne it would be you. I found you lost and alone in the forest and brought you back to my castle to heal you."

The knight turned towards Igthorn and starred at him a long time and thought to himself, _there was a time long ago when I could tell right away if someone was lying to me, he thought. Ever since I began studying the dark sword it seems as though I've lost that ability. And now that I've lost my memory I need it more than ever._

The knight began racking his brains trying to remember anything from his past that could help him determine whether Igthorn was lying or not. He looked deep into his mind and images came flashing back to him. He saw himself standing before his king

"I know it is not my place to ask, Your Majesty, said Cecil, "and I pray you can forgive my indiscretion. But what is it you aim to do?"

The king responded to Cecil's questions, "This is most unfortunate, but I can place no trust in one who offers none in return. I hereby relieve you of command of the Red Wings."

_My name is Cecil,_ thought the knight as the image faded, _but why was I questioning my king's orders? What had I done?_ He closed his eyes and tried again to remember, more images came flooding into his mind.

The image was of him marching with an army into a tiny village. He saw himself in the lead position as he and the army burst forth into a chamber demanding some sort of crystal. The people inside handed it over without a fight, and yet he still had them killed for good measure. The knight watched in horror as he took out his sword and plunged it straight through the old man who handed him the stone.

It was the shock of that scene before him that awoke the knight out of his visions and back into reality, he was still laying in a bed with Igthorn standing in front of him.

"I say there good knight, did you remember anything just now," Igthorn asked nervously.

_Yes I did,_ thought the knight, _I was leader of an army, I'm sure of it, but I killed those people on my kings orders. I….I….I've done terrible things that must make me a terrible person. I can't remember my king ever mentioning a man named Igthorn, but I know this much is true. I have lead armies in the past, so I must be some sort of conqueror. I remember the king was displeased with me, he gave me a task to complete, so that I may earn his favor and again assume command of the Red Wings. It must have been to aid this man. I must complete the task my king asked me to. My resolve is clear I must help him reclaim his kingdom.  
_

The knight stood up and turned to face Igthron, "my name is Cecil, knight of Baron."

Igthron smiled devilishly, "So Sir Cecil, will you help me in my quest to reclaim my lost kingdom?"

Cecil bowed on one knee to Igthorn, "yes my liege, I swear my loyalty to you."

* * *

Sora and Co. had arrived in a large forest. They marveled at the tall trees that stood everywhere. He looked into the distance and saw a large castle. Nothing else was visible in the immediate area. The trio continued walking through the trees when they suddenly heard a call for help. They ran towards the sound and approached an area covered with strange bushes and even stranger berries.

"Get away from me you foul demons," shouted a high pitched voice. Sora managed to get a look at the owner of that voice and saw that it was a small pink bear. He was waving a wooden sword at the heartless that were circling him, but showed no sign of fear. Sora smiled as the young bear reminded him of himself when he was a kid. _It seems like only yesterday when Riku and I were playing with wooden swords on the beach, _he thought_. _But his thoughts returned to normal when he saw one of the heartless knock the sword right out of hands of the little bear. Without a weapon the bear grabbed his head and turned around hiding and shaking on the ground as the heartless got closer.

"Let's give him a hand," said Sora, he, Donald, and Goofy stepped between the bear and the heartless in a battle ready stance.

**[Information: Defend the bear from the heartless]**

Sora charged straight at the heartless and scored multiple hits on them. He knocked a few of them away and used his explosion finishing move to get rid of the rest. Donald summoned up some thunder to deal massive damage, and Goofy used his tornado to smash through a group of them. It was a fierce battle but eventually Sora proved victorious. The small bear was still huddled in the corner, he wasn't looking at Sora and was still shaking.

"It's okay, we got rid of the heartless you're safe now," said Sora, comfortingly.

"Ahh I wasn't scared," bragged the bear, "I'm Sir Cubbi the bravest Gummi knight in all of Dunwyn." The bear got up and turned around to face Sora, it was then that he let out a gasp and tried running away, but he ran straight into Goofy, he got up and tried to run in the opposite direction, but ran straight into Donald. Finally he looked at Sora again and simply starred.

"You're a human aren't you?" asked the bear.

Before Sora could answer he heard another voice entering the clearing. "Cubbi are you finished setting those traps yet? We need to get out of here before more of those creatures—"

A small orange colored bear in a blue dress and blue hat emerged into the area. She stopped talking as he entered the clearing and starred straight at Sora.

"Land sakes! A human!" she exclaimed, "get away from my Cubbi!" she charged straight at Sora, with a rolling pin in her hand, then stopped as she noticed his keyblade. She starred down at the keyblade he was holding, then turned one more time to look at Sora again. Finally she opened her mouth slowly and asked, "Is that you…..Ventus?"


End file.
